


Over the Sea

by Angellips999



Category: 7 Seeds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:02:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24233266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angellips999/pseuds/Angellips999
Summary: What can I say - I love bad boys on a redemption arc and spunky little girls who challenge them. I fell in love with this couple in the final arc of the manga.Collection of little light drabbles about Ryou, Matsuri and Ango on the boat.  I would have loved the series to continue following these three so here are just little stories about it. There will be spoilers if you haven't read the manga.I don't know how many I'll write, but I'll post them here. If I decide on a lemon, I'll post it seperately. Enjoy :)
Relationships: Ryou/Matsuri (7 Seeds)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 33





	1. English Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> *disclaimer - I own none of these characters or this world. They belong to Yumi Tamura

English Lessons

They had developed a routine on the sailing boat. They had to circle the Japan first to get to the Pacific, so they anchored up every night. Ango and Ryou got up early and did endurance and strength exercises. A lot of them. Matsuri wasn’t a morning person, so she got up a bit later and made breakfast for them. She was surprised that they didn’t wake her with them, but was pleased to get the extra sleep and didn’t complain.

After she finished preparing food she’d go out on the deck and watch them working out. They were in total control of their bodies and it was fun to admire them as they exercised. She knew they never noticed. Summer A was totally in their own world and never self-conscious as far as she could tell. 

She’d also take the time to do her own stretching exercises like Bodan-san had taught her when they lived on the beach, and she practiced the Yoga she’d learned from Ban-san before they left Sado. She would sometimes glance at Ryou to see if he noticed her, but to her disappointment he always seemed oblivious to her stretching and bending.

After breakfast they’d pull up the anchor and set out for the day. Once they headed into the Pacific Ocean they’d have to take turns being up and on watch depending on the wind and weather, for now they would take their time getting used to each other and managing the boat with only three people. They also took the time to maintain the ship, check the sails and make repairs as needed. 

During the day Matsuri was in what Ango called ‘lessons’. She had been sailing on the boat with for weeks before this journey and already knew a lot, but Ango and Ryou wanted her to be able to manage the boat on her own. She needed to know what to do, how to set the sails, to steer the boat, to read the weather. There may be a time when she’d have to do it herself, when they all depended on her.

They took turns making dinner and to Matsuri’s chagrin both Ango and Ryou were better cooks then herself. Semimaru had always done the cooking before and he was amazing at it. Ango and Ryou’s food was very simple, yet still tasty. Matsuri watched them carefully so she could learn to cook better, which Ango would encourage her to do. He was always such a patient teacher, answering any question thrown his way calmly and automatically. Ryou was his usual self, watching them carefully but not interjecting much. 

After dinner was Matsuri’s favorite time, it was game time. She thought of all sorts of fun things to do with the three of them, and despite the blank looks she often got from the two boys, they went along with her ideas. She found small round rocks that resembled marbles to use as game pieces for Ohajiki and Bidama, she introduced them to word games like Kaibun and Shiritori. She made up games as well. It was too bad that Ryou had destroyed the deck of cards, but it couldn’t be helped. They were now his calling cards so to speak.

She also introduced them to fun physical games like Hide and Seek and Onigokko. She always lost the physical games quickly, but she found it great fun to sit and watch the hyper competiveness between Ango and Ryou play out. And they swam, every day in the ocean around the boat several times. Ryou and Ango would race, but Matsuri was content to swim beside the boat near the ladder where she felt safe. Both Ryou and Ango insisted on loads of physical activity. She knew there was no way she’d be able to keep up, so she did her best but didn’t stress about it when she hit her limit and just lay out on the deck watching them.

Finally every Sunday night was what she called movie night, which really was just her telling overly embellished synopses of her favorite movies, but Ryou and Ango were entranced by them. Her favorite were romances like the Titanic, but the boys preferred the action adventure and super hero ones better. 

One night after a couple of weeks Ango came out of his cabin with a bunch of books.

“It’s time for lessons, Matsuri,” he said, addressing her.

Matsuri sat up from her slump at the table. “Lessons?” She crinkled her little nose up in consternation. What did he mean? She was expected to do more lessons?

“We are going to try to find the Americans, so you need to learn English.” 

She frowned unhappily. He was right, she would need to speak English. But lessons? She hated school. That is why she dropped out and ran away from home. Ryou was sitting beside her and he shifted so that his thigh rested against hers under the table unseen by Ango, his touch reminding her that he was beside her.

“Fine,” she muttered. “But I’m not really good at school you know.”

And then the torture began. No more game night after dinner, and Matsuri dreaded the evenings. Every night Ango would pull out the books he had kept from one of the supply depots and make her write simple letters, and try to make sense of the symbols in his books. Every night she wound up with a headache, and was frustrated that she couldn’t get it. She felt like the failure that Summer B team was said to be.

“How did you manage to survive so long?” Ango finally said to her one night, his hand on his own forehead in frustration. “This is simple, why can’t you get it?”

“I don’t know,” Matsuri answered, her big eyes filling with tears. “I can read, I can. Just not English. I’m trying.” She wailed the last line and put her head down in her arms on the table. She wasn’t stupid, she just didn’t learn from books easily.

Ryou leaned forward looking at her from the corner of his eyes. He had been watching her sparkle go out every evening since Ango started his English classes with her. He could see how her eyes darkened with dread every day as dinnertime came, and her usual cheery demeanor fade. He didn’t like it. He found he much preferred her cheerfulness and silliness. It was what made Matsuri, well… Matsuri. He agreed with Ango, she needed to learn the language, but this apparently wasn’t the way. 

He thought about their own lessons at the institute, how they had to study so hard and how the students who couldn’t keep up where taken away and eliminated from the program. The hard fast quizzes all the time with no notice. The bombarding with questions and the unannounced tests they endured. Matsuri would have dropped out in the first week, he thought. She would have failed, she wasn’t like them. 

In the past he would have thought it right that she be eliminated, but his time with Summer B had taught him that the failures were surprisingly adept at many things necessary to thrive in this world. That Summer A despite being the superior team made up of genetically perfect people and having advanced survival training had big gaping holes in their skillsets and people like Semimaru, Arashi and Matsuri were necessary and filled those gaps. 

He had strangely had come to the belief that Summer A and B were intended to complement one another, each team providing to the other what they lacked the most. He wouldn’t put it past the professors to have planned it that way. It was too bad they hadn’t found Summer B first, maybe things would have turned out differently if they had. Then again, maybe not. Maybe they would have crushed Summer B before they learned to appreciate what they brought to the table. Before they put some of their own demons to rest. Lord knows he had tried to do that before he realized their… actuality. He ran his hand over his eyes at the thought as he got up from the table, bringing himself back to the problem at hand.

Matsuri needed to learn English because her strongest skill was social, and he knew that they would need it if they managed to find the Americans. Matsuri wasn’t a failure, she just couldn’t learn the way they’d been taught.

“I will teach Matsuri English.” He stated to them. 

Ango looked at him stunned, Ryou never put himself out for others. Then he realized that in truth he actually always had, but not like this. Never openly. He helped Summer B with all sorts of things after their adventure on the ship, and he had helped with building the bridge for the main group they’d been banished from. He had helped Koruri many times, dragging her out of the water when she was in trouble, he teamed up with Nijiko in school, and he had even helped Shigeru at the end of the test. He had always helped Ango, even when Ango didn’t realize he needed it. Sure he often had a twisted idea of what ‘help’ was, but all of Team A was all a bit off to be honest, some apparently way more than others.

However when it came to Matsuri, it was different. He seemed to care for her and was protective of her, even putting himself at risk at times to everyone’s surprise. Ango remembered Ryou dragging Matsuri out of the pit where they found Shigeru. He had off handedly asked if she were going find her own way out since she couldn’t climb, but he knew in his heart that there was no way that Ryou was going to let her go off by herself. She’d never make it. Ryou proved him right and had single handedly dragged Matsuri up that cliff. Ryou was an enigma to this day.

“Well, she’s your girlfriend.” Ango pushed to books over to Ryou. “Go for it, and good luck.”

“Good luck!” Matsuri jumped up in anger. “Good luck! You can’t say things like that Ango-kun, that is insulting.”

Ryou smirked, enjoying the fire back in Matsuri’s eyes. Ango backed up, his eyes widening. Little Matsuri was advancing on him and it was hilariously funny to watch someone as trained and level headed as Ango back up from a low skilled civilian. He could have her turned around and down in a second, but he was retreating.

“Ahh, sorry Matsuri,” Ango held his hands out to appease her. “I’m sure it will be fine. I’ll leave it to you Ryou, and head off to bed.” He beat a hasty retreat to his cabin, leaving Matsuri and Ryou behind.

As fast as it had come, Matsuri’s anger faded and she deflated in front of him as she turned to face him. “I’m sorry Ryou-kun, I don’t know if I can learn English.”

“Well, it seems to me that you don’t need to read and write it. At least not right now, that part can come later. But I think you’d pick up speaking and understanding it really fast.”

“Really?” Her face came up quickly, her eyes sparkling with renewed light. “You think I could?”

Right on cue, just as he expected, she latched on to his arm excitedly, her face turned up to him. “You think I could learn to speak it easily?”

“Yes.” 

She was bouncing now, still holding on to his arm. He liked when she did that, even though he’d never admit it. Admittedly it was annoying when she first started, but he had gotten used to it. Now he enjoyed it, it meant she trusted him. He, who was dirty and damaged, and certainly not worthy of such trust.

“How, Ryou-kun?” She was looking up at him with her big eyes. He couldn’t resist, he leaned down and kissed her. 

“Kiss,” he said in English when he pulled back. “That was a kiss.”

“Kiss.” She repeated, rolling the word on her tongue. “Kiss me again.” She smiled up at him.

“Kiss me again.” He stated in English, holding himself straight, waiting.

“Oh I see,” her eyes were sparkling. “Kiss me again,” she copied his English statement.

“Hai, yes.” He kissed her again, pulling her close to his body, enjoying her slight form on his. 

“Teach me more, Ryou-kun.” She was leaning on him, her hands planted on his chest now, looking up at him.

“Touch.” He ran his hand up her arm and cupped her face. “I’ll say it in English, then in Japanese and you’ll repeat it. We will practice until you get it.”

“Touch?” She nibbled her small pink lips, a flush rising on her cheeks. 

“Yes, touch me.” He repeated it in both languages.

“Touch me,” she said. “Hai, touch me.”

Ryou ran his hands up her back, and then over her ribs. He had been kissing her. A lot. Especially when Ango wasn’t looking. And they cuddled often as well, but he hadn’t touched her intimately yet. She gasped slightly, her eyes widening. And then she said it again. “Touch me, Ryou-kun.”

He gently cupped her bottom enjoying its softness, and leaned down to kiss her again as he pulled her up. He found he enjoyed kissing her way too much. He remembered the extreme relief he felt when she didn’t turn her back on him. He _needed_ her beside him, he _needed_ her optimism and cheerfulness, and _needed_ her to challenge him and pull him back from the edge, even when he didn’t like it. And now apparently he _needed_ her kisses.

Matsuri pulled back and giggled. “But Ryou-kun, I can’t go asking the Americans to ‘kiss me’ and ‘touch me’, can I?”

Ryou frowned at the thought. No, she could not indeed. That would be unacceptable. “Those are your first English words. You may only use them on me.”

“I see.” Matsuri cupped her hand over her mouth, hiding her laughter but he could still see it in her eyes.

“We will start speaking English daily. Ango and I will use it more and more. In the beginning I will repeat the words in Japanese and slowly we’ll speak nothing but English. If you’re a good student and learn the words and phrases of the day, then you can use those two at the end of the day. As your reward.”

“Reward huh?”

“Yes.” He knew Matsuri was clever and extremely stubborn. She loved him, she had told him that. She’d learn just for her reward.

“But Ryou-kun, remember when you said we weren’t ready for baby making. You were right. I don’t want babies. Not yet. But I do like touching you and–”

Ryou leaned down to kiss her again, stopping her words. When he released her lips he smiled, startling her. Ryou never smiled, not like that. It made him look even more beautiful making her catch her breath.

“We won’t go that far. Not yet Matsuri. But someday, we will be settled in this world.” 

“I see. Well, Botan-San told me some things about how to avoid babies as well before we left. But nothing is one hundred percent.” She had an adorable little frown between her brows. “I mean eventually… but I just want a normal boyfriend for now.”

He pulled away from her frowning slightly. “We aren’t normal though.” What was a normal boyfriend supposed to be? He had no clue what she expected of him.

“Hmm, I guess not.” She grinned at him suddenly. “We’ll take it our own way I guess.”

“It is the only way to go. There is nobody here to grade us, nobody to judge us. In this world we are free to do as we please. When we please.”

“I think I can learn English this way.” 

“I’m sure you will.”

Well, before I head to bed, Ryou-kun.” She placed her hands back on his chest looking up at him. “There is just one more thing.”

“What?”

“Kiss Me.”

Yes the English lessons were going to work out just fine, Ryou thought and he pulled her into another kiss.


	2. Shivering

Shivering

A small storm came down from the north unexpectedly. It was not a major storm, but their small boat was lashed with rain and wind. Matsuri had been the one at the rudder and hadn’t noticed it coming towards them. She had been busy daydreaming about the future, the lands they would find and maybe new people. And of course about Ryou. 

She kicked herself for that, she was sure that either one of the boys would have noticed a storm brewing. By the time the two of them came up to help her on deck they were in the middle of the squall and luckily nobody had time to chastise her for not noticing and not calling them up earlier for help.

The rain was still very heavy, but the waves and wind calmed some when Ango left the helm to Ryou and turned his attention to her, ready to turn the experience into a teaching moment.

“Matsuri, did you not see the clouds coming in or notice the light fading? You must be attentive at all times.” He looked over at her small drenched form frowning. She was soaked through and shivering so hard he could see her shaking from a distance. He felt a moment of pride, the pride of a teacher whose student had succeeded. She had stayed through the whole storm and did her part without complaint. She was slowly becoming a decent little sailor.

“Sorry Ango-kun, I didn’t.” Her voice was shaky and he could hear her teeth chattering. He looked at her closer, noticing her blue lips. She didn’t have the kind of survival clothing he and Ryou had, she didn’t even seem to have a rain slicker or wind breaker. She was wearing her pink hoodie and jeans and was apparently freezing. Now that he paid attention he realized just how cold it was out on the deck, how the wind still cut though his clothing. If he was chilled she must be frigid. This was no time to rub in a lesson about awareness and seamanship.

“Ryou,” he called. “Take Matsuri inside.”

Ryou looked up and his gaze went over Matsuri taking in how wet she was, the blue lips, the uncontrollable shivering. He mentally kicked himself for not noticing earlier. “Got it.”

The boys switched places and Ryou dragged Matsuri down into the cabin of the boat. She was shaking so hard that he was concerned.

“I thought the Pacific was supposed to be warm year round.” She said, her teeth chattering. “Why was it so darn cold?”

“It just is. Wind and rain are cold. Don’t you have rain gear or cold weather gear?” He unzipped her hoodie and dropped it on the ground where it landed in wet heap.

“No.” Her words were shaky and she started rubbing her arms to warm up. “My parents didn’t pack stuff like that.”

What had they been thinking? He should have realized that fact though, when he had dragged her up the cliff in Sado he had had to dress her in his own jacket and pants. She had been running around in the icy caves wearing just her hoodie and a pair of shorts. He grabbed a towel and started to briskly rub her dry with it. Her skin was white under her tan and ice cold. He was worried she was going into hypothermia.

“You need to get out of this wet clothing.” He pulled her into his room, striping off his jacket as he went. “Quickly Matsuri.”

He pulled her t-shirt off and undid her jeans and started tugging them down her legs, intent on getting the cold wet clothing off her, ignoring her sounds of protest.

“Ryou!” 

He looked up and despite the cold and blue lips her face was flushed and she had crossed one arm over her chest and the other hand over her groin covering her panties. 

“Ryou-kun! What are you doing?!”

“I’m striping off your wet clothing and then I’m going to share body heat with you to warm you up.” Wasn’t it obvious?

“I can’t be naked with you!” She had real distress in her eyes now. “Don’t look!”

“Fine. I’m not going to argue.” He pulled her shoes and pants right off and grabbed a dry t-shirt from his drawer and pulled it over her head, yanking her arms into the short sleeves. It completely dwarfed her small form. Skin to skin contact would be best, but he wasn’t going to fight her about it. “Good enough?”

She nodded wordlessly at him, her eyes big and watery. Great, he didn’t want to deal with tears right now. He picked her up and put her in his bed and finished striping himself down to his underwear. He glanced back at Matsuri. She had her eyes squeezed shut tight and was lying under his covers, stiff despite her shivering. She was shy right now? After all the times they’d touched and kissed one another? Sure they hadn’t been fully intimate yet, but that was just a matter of time in his mind. Why was she suddenly shy again?

Ryou got in the bed beside her and pulled her tight in his arms, feeling the shaking from the cold slowly start to slow as her skin began to warm against his.

“Matsuri it’s just like we always cuddle. You need to be warmed up or you’ll get hypothermia or sick.”

“No it isn’t. We are in your bed and you’re naked!” There was a panicked tone to her voice.

“I’m not naked.” He could feel a small smile slide over his face.

“Almost.”

“Fair enough, but it’s just to share body heat.”

She was quiet and had her arms crossed between them, but she slowly relaxed and wrapped an arm around him to nestle closer seeking his warmth. He could feel her body soften into his. He pressed a soft kiss to the top her head. It wouldn’t do to have her get sick out here.

“Ryou-kun.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I like this.” Her lips were close to his chest and he could feel the heat from her words.

“So do I.” He had forgotten how warm and secure it felt to be so close to someone you trusted. Although he and Nijiko had slept close together they had only tried real intimacy once before deciding it wasn’t for them. However, he had missed the feeling of her body next to his. This girl, _his_ girl was much smaller and more delicate than his old friend and team mate. She was considerably softer as well, not all hard muscle like the members of Summer A, although she was surprisingly fit and lithe for a civilian. Her breathing evened out and he knew she had fallen asleep in his arms. For some reason a wave of possessiveness washed over him. 

He liked her here in his bed against his body. It made him feel safe. Him feel safe? What a ridiculous thought. He held her close and listened to her heartbeat, letting it lull him into sleep himself.

Ango came down a few hours later after putting the wind powered autopilot on since the weather had calmed although the rain was still steady. They needed one of them at the helm though, in case the weather took a turn and picked up again. He pushed Ryou’s door open to tell him it was his turn to be on watch, but saw the two of them entwined and in a deep sleep. He was surprised that Ryou didn’t even stir. It was totally unlike someone from Summer A to not awaken immediately at an intrusion, especially Ryou who was the sharpest of them all. He quietly backed up and closed the door softly. 

He guessed he was going to take a double shift. A cold wet long double shift, but he was strangely happy about it. Happy for Ryou? He didn’t quite understand, but he was. If Ryou could find someone, there had to be someone for himself out there someplace. There were other people in the world, new people for a fresh start, places where he wouldn’t make the same mistakes. He smiled to himself as he took the helm again and settled himself there for the rest of the night.


	3. Rhythm

Rhythm

They had been travelling for over two months, crossing the Pacific Ocean towards America. According to the charts on the boat, they were half way to Hawaii. Usually they all worked the boat during the day together, taking full advantage of the winds. When it was calm enough at night they let the wind-powered auto pilot take them in their direction. Every other night one of the boys would take turns staying on watch, waking every two hours to just check the weather, the wind direction, and the status of the boat. It wasn’t something they trusted Matsuri to do yet, and she was more than happy about that, she really didn't want that responsibility.

She had felt sadness and trepidation when they left the shores of Japan behind. She stood on the deck of the boat watching as it disappeared into the distance. It would be shorter to take a circular route north to California, but they chose to go to Hawaii first, to stop and replenish their stores. If the islands of Hawaii were still there. Who knows, they may have disappeared into the ocean when the meteors destroyed the world.

The three of them got along well, each finding their niches and responsibilities to running the boat. Ango was in charge, but they discussed everything together, Ryou having full input. Matsuri felt like she really didn’t bring much to the table in sailing skills, so she was content to listen and learn. If she thought she needed to say something she’d say it. The boys treated her as an equal, which was satisfying, especially since they were Summer A’s. They had all found their rhythm together.

There was one small thing that was concerning her, something she needed to bring up with Ryou, but she wasn’t sure how to approach it. How did someone talk to their boyfriend about… intimacy? They had been a full out couple for months now, and she’d know him for well over a year. All the time they’d spent sailing with Summer B, then the time getting the boat ready and supplied for the voyage while building the village for the larger group had cemented their relationship. She felt she was ready to take it to the next step, however she remembered his words to her all those months ago. 

“If you’re talking about having babies, forget it for now,” he had said. Darn right she would. She was nowhere near ready to be a parent. Just the thought of it chilled her to the bone. They had just taken off on an adventure over the ocean, and that was the last thing either of them wanted or needed. She would much rather wait a few years.

However she had a trick up her sleeve. Botan-san had taken her aside before she left and had a conversation with her about… well her personal rhythm. Botan-san had told her that there was a way to avoid having babies based on her own cycle, that she was a teenager with raging hormones and that although it went against her mission to tell the other girls about it, she thought it would be safest for Matsuri to know how it worked, to hopefully avoid having a baby while out to sea with no one but two young men to help her. 

Matsuri had listened attentively, and had taken a small book to write notes in. She learned to track her cycle, she learned her body’s rhythm, and now she felt ready to take her relationship to the next stage with Ryou. But how did one approach their boyfriend so coldly about such a thing? Shouldn’t it be spontaneous and free flowing in the excitement of the moment? It should happen naturally.

Oh they’d been messing around plenty, but never had taken that final step, which had suited her just fine until now. That was another rhythm she needed to learn and get used to. The one they built together. They had needed the time to move from kisses, to touching, to... other things. They had needed the time to become a couple fully, just like if they lived in the past world. Oh there was no ‘dating’ here, but they spent most of their time together, they told each other their secrets, shared their hopes for the future. They were definitely close now, and she was ready.

She’d just have to pull herself together and just tell him bluntly. That usually worked best with him. Matsuri sighed at the thought, deciding it was time to broach the subject.

She waited until they were alone one evening, Ango being the one on duty up above, while she and Ryou did the dishes in the small boat kitchen. Matsuri took a deep breath, and then blurted out.

“Do you know about the rhythm method?” That was a good start right?

“Rhythm method?” Ryou slid his eyes to the side to look at her without turning his face as he was drying the plate he was holding. “We never took music lessons.”

“No, not that kind of rhythm method.” Matsuri could feel her face flushing with embarrassment. Kami, how could she feel embarrassed with him now? “It’s a birth control method.”

That caught his attention, his drying stopped and he put the dish away silently. She waited for his response, she knew it would be coming. He reached for another dish.

“Explain.”

“Umm, well…” Matsuri felt herself flushing more, she was sure she was a shade of red now. “It has to do with my cycle. You know… my…” How could she say this? It was so embarrassing. She glanced up at Ryou and he was watching her, one eyebrow raised as he waited for her to finish.

“Your?” 

Matsuri took a huge breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She felt so flustered. “My period.”

“Go on.”

“Well, Botan-san told me that women have fertile days and non-fertile days.” She was going to die and hoped the floor would open up and swallow her right now. But she had brought up the subject first. There was no backing out now.

“You use a calendar and you count days from your period. To figure out when you can get pregnant.”

“So you’re saying there are times during the month you can’t? Other than during your period of course.” He sounded still cool, no change in his voice.

Matsuri looked at the ground, rubbing it with her left toe. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up, it was so embarrassing. “Ummm… yes.” She almost whispered the words.

“Matsuri, why are you embarrassed?” Damn him for asking. Her eyes flew up to his. His were light, lighter than they usually were. He was still hard to read.

“Because…”

“Because?”

“I don’t know how to talk to you about this.” She practically wailed, feeling like she just might start to cry. 

“We’re talking about it right now aren’t we? How else are we supposed to talk about it?”

“I guess, we just aren’t supposed to talk about it at all. I mean if we were in the past you’d just have some condoms, or I’d go get birth control. Then we could… whenever we wanted and it would happen naturally. Talking about it is…”

“Embarrassing for you?” He snorted. “Seriously?”

She glared at him. He took in the color flushing her cheeks, the brightness of her eyes. He could see how fast her pulse was beating in the shallow of her throat.

“Yes. It is.”

“It shouldn’t be.” He took a moment to smooth some of the wayward curls around her face. “It should be something we can talk about plainly together. It is something we should decide together.”

“Well, it’s hard… I mean I don’t want to be so forward, you’ll think badly of me. It should happen spontaneously, when it feels right. Not on a pre-decided date and time. That makes it feel icky. At the same time I feel ready… just not for a baby.”

“No, not for a baby.” He smiled at her, it made him look so beautiful. “Show me your notes, walk me through understanding it.” He laughed at her deepening red color and hugged her to his side briefly before pulling her to the table.

Matsuri pulled the little book she’d been used to tracking, with the circles and exes showing how it worked. Ryou understood it quickly.

Finally she leaned back, relieved to have gotten out it.

“It’s not one hundred percent though.” She admitted. “I mean if we… it could still happen.”

“I understand that.” He ran a hand up her back and settled it on her nape. “Remember what I told you about that in the caves?”

“That we would make amazing children?”

“If it happens, it happens. Neither one of us is ready, but I won’t be unhappy about it.”

“I guess.” She played with her fingers tracing a mark on the table. She shot a look up at him. “I wouldn’t be able to follow you though, into dangerous places. That would make me worried.”

“We’ll trust that it won’t happen.” He put a finger under her chin lifting it. “Although you having to stay put may make me worry less.”

“You worry about me Ryou-kun?” A look of wonder came over her eyes.

“Of course. You’re my girl.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I always worry about you.”

They could hear Ango heading down into the cabin and Ryou pulled back and grinned at her. It was the kind of grin that scared her.

“What are you two up to?” Ango asked as he headed to grab a drink. “Everything is calm outside, I can take a break.”

“Matsuri.” A wicked light came into Ryou’s eyes. “Why don’t you explain to Ango the rhythm method? I am sure he’d be fascinated.”

Matsuri turned a brilliant red, and jumped up. “Oh you!!!” She fled to her cabin, leaving him laughing behind her. Damn him for teasing her in such a way. He was such an asshole sometimes. She slammed her door closed and leaned back on it, feeling as if she was going to die of embarrassment all over. She could hear Ango though the door, asking Ryou.

“What is this rhythm method?”


	4. The Night Sky

The Night Sky

Ryou woke up suddenly feeling like something was wrong. Something was missing. He reached for Matsuri beside him but came up with air. He was startled that she was gone, he should have awoken at any movement from her but he hadn’t. He had gotten used to her there tucked up close to him, and should have noticed her leaving. He was that exhausted, that he slept right though her getting up and leaving him? What was wrong with him?

He supposed it couldn’t be helped. They had battled a typhoon-like storm for over forty-seven hours. Ango and he had to both be on deck at all times just to keep the boat afloat. Sometimes they let Matsuri relieve one of them for a short rest and to change into dry clothing, but he couldn’t relax when she was on deck, even though she was wearing a life jacket and was tethered with a safety line. She was just too small, too weak to be on the deck during such a storm, even for the brief time that he or Ango needed. He much preferred her inside where she couldn’t be washed overboard, making sure they had dry clothing to change into and warm food. 

They had made it through the storm and into the calm and pulled down the main sails and let the wind-powered autopilot steer so they wouldn’t drift off course while they slept. It was unlike him to sleep so deeply. It was dangerous and he kicked himself for making such a mistake.

But where was Matsuri? He got up and pulled a blanket over his shoulders to ward off the chill, leaving to go look for her. She was not inside the ship and he felt a worry nagging at him as he headed outside. She shouldn’t be outside alone, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Anything could happen. A sudden squall, a rogue wave, a strong wind, a slip and fall. What if she were knocked overboard? They’d never find her. She’d never survive out here, she’d be lost. This wasn’t a test. It was real life. 

He came out on deck and to his relief there she was sitting in the bow. She had her knees tucked up to her chest under the t-shirt she’d claimed as a nightgown from his clothing. He had only half-heartedly objected about losing it, something about seeing her dwarfed in his t-shirt pleased him. Its hem coming to almost her knees and enveloping her made her look adorable. He didn’t understand why he liked her wearing his shirt, he just did.

“Matsuri.”

“Oh, hey Ryou-kun.” She turned to look at him over her shoulder, her eyes shining silver in the moonlight. Her hair was free from its usual pigtails and surrounded her head catching the silver light. She was beautiful, he thought suddenly. Oh not like Madonna who was all frozen cold perfect beauty, she was more earthy, more touchable, golden and warm. 

“What are you doing?” He walked up and sat beside her, frowning slightly at the goose bumps he noticed on her arms.

“Looking at the stars.” She gestured up to the sky. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Yah, I guess,” he answered, not really understanding. “They are stars.”

“I know but just look at them.” She turned to look up at the sky and Ryou followed her gaze. "Before... you could never see them like this, there was always a haze over them from the lights."

“They are tools to be used.” Ryou said, looking up at them. “There is the Big Dipper, and there is Orion. Over there is the North Star. They tell you what season it is, what direction to go in.” Ryou remembered all the lessons they learned in their classes about how to read the skies. They all knew the basics. For survival.

“But don’t you think they are so much more than that, Ryou-kun?” She put a hand on his arm, and smiled at him, her eyes laughing and her face full of joy. “They look like diamonds dusted over midnight velvet. If we’re lucky we’ll see a shooting star.”

“A shooting star doesn’t have a use.”

“Of course it does. If we make a wish on it, it will come true.” Matsuri was still hugging her knees gazing up at the sky, and he noticed a little shiver.

“You aren’t coming back to bed are you?”

She laughed out loud, her voice bouncing off the waves. “Not yet Ryou-kun. I want to see a shooting star and make my wish.”

He pulled her between his legs and wrapped his arms around her, surrounding her with his body and the blanket to warm her and leaned back against the mast. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Ok. It may take a while.” He felt her body relax into his and she looked up at the sky again. He looked up as well. The sky was beautiful, a midnight blue that was almost black with the heavens lighting it up. A shooting star shot across it and he wondered why he’d never admired it before.

“Look there is one, Ryou-kun. Did you make your wish?”

He snorted. “I don’t have any wishes.”

“Really? That is too bad. I made mine, so it’s sure to come true now. But let’s watch just a little longer ok?”

They watched the night sky, and he felt her relax totally into sleep in his arms. He didn’t want to move, he wanted to stay here with her asleep safe in his arms under the midnight sky. It was so foolish, but there was nobody watching, nobody grading, nobody judging, so he stayed as he wanted.

No he didn’t have any wishes to make. But he wondered what Matsuri had wished for right before he fell asleep under the stars himself, lulled by the gentle rocking of the boat and the softness of her breath.


	5. Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A really light drabble about Ango and Matsuri. We never saw them interact alone in the manga, but I imagine they would need to learn about one another now.

Clouds

It was one of those perfect sunny days on the boat. The wind was steady, blowing at a perfect speed, the sun was high and the waves were smooth. Ryou was at the helm and Ango had just finished going over the ropes, making sure they were smooth and coiled properly with no fraying. He put them away, almost tripping over Matsuri, who for some reason had pulled out a blanket and was lying out on the deck flat on her back staring up at the sky. 

Surely there was some work to be done, he thought. Then he remembered, it was the ‘weekend’ that Summer B observed, and although Matsuri would do her morning chores, it was what she also called _relax _day where she spent most of it doing… well not much of anything.__

__“What are you doing Matsuri?” he couldn’t help but ask._ _

__“I’m observing the clouds.” She had one foot propped up on her opposite leg which was bent at the knee, and her hands behind her head._ _

__Now that was a good thing to do, he thought. You could tell a lot by the clouds._ _

__“Yes, I see those are cumulus clouds.”_ _

__She glanced at him, wrinkling her little nose. “What kind?”_ _

__“Cumulus clouds. See how puffy and brilliantly white they are on top where the sun hits them, and darker on the bottom. They develop on clear sunny days, due to diurnal convection. They mean it’s a good weather day when they are white. If they are grey it means rain.”_ _

__“Diurnal convention?”_ _

__“No, diurnal convection, it means that the sun heats the ground directly below.”_ _

__“So, what other kinds are there?” She had curiosity in her eyes now._ _

__Sensing a lesson here, he dropped down to sit beside her, his eyes on the sky as well. Ango couldn’t help himself, he launched into a talk about clouds._ _

__“Stratus clouds are those flat featureless grey clouds that hang low in the sky covering it like a fog. They mean it’s going to be a drizzly or rainy day.”_ _

__“Hmm.”_ _

__“Stratocumulus clouds are low, puffy and patchy, like a honeycomb. They form when there is a weak convection in the atmosphere. So the sun isn’t warming the earth very much at all. Altocumulus are similar, but patchy and in parallel bands. They mean it’s going to be warm and humid day, and can appear ahead of a cold front.”_ _

__“Which means?”_ _

__“Cold weather or stormy weather may follow.”_ _

__“I see.”_ _

__“Nimbostratus are dark low clouds, when it rains or snows you’ll see them.”_ _

__“Rain clouds.” She smiled at him._ _

__“Yes, rain clouds. Not storm clouds.” He couldn’t help but smile back, she did have an infectious smile. “Altostratus are those grey sheets that cover the sky in the mid-level. You can still see the sun as a dimly behind them. They form ahead of a warm front usually, although if you see them together with cumulus it means it’s a cold front.”_ _

__“So many clouds.” Matsuri mused._ _

__“We’re not done yet. The wispy white ones that streak high across the sky are made up of tiny ice crystals rather than the usual water droplets. They can form ahead of warm fronts and big storms, such as hurricanes and tropical cyclones. They indicate that storms may be coming, so you prepare for that when you see them.”_ _

__“So, batten the hatches when you see the high wispy ones? Ok got it.”_ _

__“Cirrocumulus are the small white patchy ones that appear in winter when it’s cold. We likely won’t see them here, it won’t get cold enough. Cirrostratus is the thin almost transparent veil of cloud that covers the entire sky, and you will see a halo around the sun or moon. They indicate that there is a lot of moisture in the atmosphere, and approaching warm fronts.”_ _

__“Are we done yet?”_ _

__“Not quite, just one more, thunderstorm clouds. The cumulonimbus clouds that span the entire sky, They are grey ones with very dark bottoms. They mean that there is a threat of severe weather and heavy rainfall, possibly hail.”_ _

__“Hmm, well I don’t know if I’ll remember their names. But I get it Ango-kun.” She grinned at him._ _

__Ango sat back on his hands, feeling very satisfied with his lesson._ _

__“But Ango-kun, you didn’t talk about the most important thing about clouds.”_ _

__“Huh?” He glanced at her, and she was lying flat down looking at the sky again and wiggling the toes on her propped up foot._ _

__“Lay here beside me and let me teach you what I know about the clouds.”_ _

__Ango reluctantly lay down beside her. He had so much he needed to do, and this seemed like a frivolous waste of time. There were sails to check, the deck to scrub, he wanted to oil the winches to make sure they worked smoothly and it was such a perfect day to do all these chores. He decided to indulge her for a few minutes, she did do her best to accommodate him and Ryou after all._ _

__“Ok, what do you know about the clouds?” He looked up into the sky, looking at the cumulus clouds. She couldn’t possibly know more than him._ _

__“Well, I know that that one looks like a bird.” She pointed to one above them. “If we watch it I bet it will change into a plane as it moves.”_ _

__It did look a little like a bird he thought. But what was the point of that?_ _

__“Look-that one looks like a puppy, with big floppy ears.”_ _

__Ok, it did. So?_ _

__“And there is a cupcake! Doesn’t it look delicious, all fluffy white icing on top.” She sounded happy, he thought, but this seemed pointless to him._ _

__“There is a horse, galloping across the sky.” She turned to him, those huge hazel eyes sparkling. “Your turn Ango-kun. What do you see in the clouds?”_ _

__He sighed. He’d have to give in and entertain her now. “Umm…” He looked up at the clouds trying to discern something from their shapes. “There is a mountain, look how it has a peak.”_ _

__“Yep, yep. I see it!”_ _

__“And… that bird did turn into a plane. See how it’s smoothed out. You were right.”_ _

__“I know. I am quite good at that.”_ _

__“Oh look at that one, it looks like a foot with five toes. Do you see it?” Ango pointed out the cloud he saw._ _

__“It sure does. Good one Ango-kun!”_ _

__This was rather fun, he thought and he allowed himself to relax and enjoy picking out pictures in the clouds._ _

__It got late, and he was still lying beside Matsuri pointing out cloud shapes in the sky, listening to her giggle about them, and talking. Just talking and sharing, without purpose for a change. He lost track of time. It was… comfortable._ _

__Finally she rolled towards him, her two hands under her cheek, her hazel eyes warm. “You see, Ango-kun, it’s important to look at this world and see all the good things in it. The beautiful things.”_ _

__He sat up, and ran his hand through his shaggy hair. Sometimes Matsuri saw things so clearly that he couldn’t see._ _

__A shadow fell across them, and he looked up to find Ryou standing over them. A look was exchanged between the two of them, a flash of understanding. He had heard Matsuri too._ _

__“Have a good Saturday?” he asked Matsuri, who had shaded her eyes and was gazing up at him._ _

__“Yep!” She grinned at him, sitting up. “It was great!”_ _

__“Good, I made dinner on the hibachi.” He glanced at Ango again. “I thought we could eat out here, it’s a nice day.”_ _

__It was a nice day, Ango thought as he got up to go eat. Sure he had gotten next to nothing done, but it wasn’t a waste of time. He felt like he had learned something, something important that he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but it was there and would come to him. He smiled to himself. He’d never look at clouds or Matsuri the same way again._ _


	6. The Bikini

The Bikini

They finally sighted an island after a little over three months at sea. It was right where they expected Hawaii to be, midway from Japan to the Pacific coast of America.

“There it is!!! One of the Hawaiian Islands!” Matsuri was dancing on the balls of her feet as she jumped up and down at the rail. “Which Island is it? Oh my god I can’t wait! Do you think they still have pineapples?! I would love a pineapple right now!”

“It looks like one of the smaller islands. The topography has changed.” Ango stated, looking towards the island. He was relieved to find it, they needed to stop and recharge for a while. They needed to refill their storage with food and fresh water. The list of things they needed to do started to compile in his mind.

“I would expect the big one to be gone, it was an active volcano when we were put to sleep.” Ryou added in, as he took the island in using the binoculars.

“Give those to me, Ryou-kun!” Matsuri snatched them from him and held them up to her eyes to look. “I wanna see too!”

Ango watched Ryou, half expecting him to snatch them back from her, but he didn’t. He just let her have them and put his hands on her hips to steady her as she rose on her toes and leaned over the rail to try to see the island. They confused him sometimes, although to be truthful he was happy that they had Matsuri with them. She made the whole trip much livelier than it would have been with just the two of them.

“I can see a beach, Ryou-kun!” 

“Show me.”

She handed the binoculars back, and pointed out where. Ryou handed the binoculars to Ango so he could see too. “Good place to set anchor?”

As usual they were both on the same page. They wanted to set anchor, get on the island and forage and hunt for fresh food and water. They would survey it for danger, and collect samples of the flora and fauna. They would take notes as they mapped it out. It was always good to know as much as possible about a new land mass, just in case.

“Do you think that one of the American teams was left on Hawaii?” Matsuri asked suddenly. “I mean, it would make sense wouldn’t it? It’s isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and it has, or rather had no dangerous creatures on it. You know, from before. Plus there are no biting bugs!”

Ryou and Ango looked at each other over her head. She was surprisingly clever. It did make sense. You would spread out your survivors to ensure at least one team would make it. They had Sado Island in Japan, the Americans… well they had Hawaii. A group of islands so cut off from the rest of the world that predators could never make it there. Maybe they had their own ark here, and maybe there were clues on how to open one. The list in Ango’s mind grew larger.

“I came on vacation with my parents once. It’s got great beaches.” Matsuri turned and grinned at them. “I can’t wait. I made myself a bikini from some of the cloth that Kurumi gave me before we left.”

Ango and Ryou just ignored that. Who knew what she was chattering on about, a bikini? Obviously something that had nothing to do with them.

“I think we should head inland, towards that mountain edge when we check it out.” Ango was saying, pointing to the volcano that was emerging from the clouds as they got closer. “We are probably going to need to stay here at least a few weeks, to fully explore it and replenish our stores.”

“There may be another team. We need to prepare for that.” Ryou added. 

“Can’t we just rest a couple of days on the beach?” Matsuri whined slightly. “I mean we need a vacation don’t we? After getting here we deserve one. I’m fine with crabs and shellfish for dinner for a change.”

A vacation? What was that? Ango thought.

“What is a vacation?” Ryou asked, looking just as bemused as Ango did.

“Hmm, well it’s like a weekend. But longer.” Matsuri grinned at them.

“A weekend but longer!” Ango bit out, totally stunned at the idea. The whole weekend thing that Summer B had fostered on them was more than enough, wasn’t it? She wanted more time to… do nothing? Incredible. He looked over at Ryou and saw the same stunned looked on his face.

“No way.” Ryou stated firmly. 

“What do you mean, no way Ryou-Kun?” Matsuri’s eyes were darkening dangerously and a flush rose over her cheeks. Ango could see the growing storm coming. Matsuri rarely lost her temper, she was a bright and sunny person. But Ryou could set her off at times. For some strange reason Matsuri seemed willing to challenge him directly when she felt he overstepped. He admired that about the girl.

“We don’t need a… vacation.” 

“Well maybe you bionic men don’t, but I do.” She tossed her head and turned back to the beach, a small pout on her lips. “I’m totally worn out and tired of this boat. I’m just going to lay on the beach and suntan for a few days.” 

Ryou looked helplessly over at him and Ango shrugged. What was he supposed to do? She wasn’t _his_ girlfriend. Besides he knew by now that Summer B members marched to their own beat. It seemed like they were going to have a vacation… it was outrageous.

__“We could just ensure that our base is safe before we start exploring the island.” He ventured, knowing that was the best they hope for. “But when we go inland, I think that we should do some cliff climbing training for you Matsuri.”_ _

__“Wah?” She turned to look at him, grabbing ahold of Ryou’s arm. “I don’t like cliff climbing.” She shuttered remembering the horrible steep cliff that Ryou dragged her up back on Sado. He could see her slight tremble, but pushed his empathy for her aside._ _

__“It’s a good idea. She needs to get at least rudimentary skills in climbing.” Ryou agreed with Ango. He then addressed Matsuri directly, noticing the frown coming over her face at how he had just talked around her. “You’ll get your vacation… two weekends worth. So four days, while we take stock of the area, determine any ship repairs that need to be done and begin to collect supplies. Then we’re hiking inland and spending at least the same amount of time training you in rock climbing.”_ _

__Matsuri looked crestfallen and Ryou looked like he had almost reached out to hug her, but had stopped himself. She needed the skill to help her survive. He might not always be there to push her up a cliff if needed. Ango approved of the compromise. Matsuri could sit on the beach and they would carve out a perimeter. Then they would all go explore the island. It worked for him._ _

__“Fine then, four days of beach time!” She cheered up and bounced off into the interior of the ship to get ready for the anchoring. “By the way that means four days per Island!”_ _

__“Per Island? How many are there?” Ryou asked after she left._ _

__“Hmm I think four or five.” Ango stated. “I’ll look at the charts, but it may be changed. Just like in Japan. We’ll have to check them all for survivors.” He ran a hand through his spiky hair. “I guess we’ll be staying here for longer than we anticipated.”_ _

__“Yah.” Ryou was looking over the island. “We don’t really need to rush you know. It’s not a test.”_ _

__Ango looked at him. He was right, they had no time schedule. Nobody was watching them, determining if they were good enough. They could take as much time as they desired to visit all these islands in the middle of the Pacific._ _

__“Well, if we have a vacation on every island, I guess we should have rock climbing every island as well.” He looked at Ryou, trying to gauge his thoughts. It was impossible as usual. “She needs to learn.”_ _

__“Agreed.” Ryou answered. “I kept back a lot of the climbing equipment we found in the supply bunkers. I have a harness for her, and plenty of carbineers and pitons. It’s a good place to learn. Also, you should know, Nijiko gave me her gun and ammunition for this trip. She stated she didn’t need it anymore where they were, and would rather not have it anymore, however we are heading to America where guns were much more common.”_ _

__“Funny, Koruri did the same for me.” Ango admitted. “Only use them if necessary, and Ryo, preferably not on any people we meet.”_ _

__“If I do, my bad.”_ _

__Ango closed his eyes in agitation. Ryou was sometimes totally uncontrollable. But there were uses for guns other than for fighting. Opening doors, breaking stone, killing monsters… all good reasons to have one. He would never use one on a person again though. There simply weren’t enough people left in world to lose any for stupid reasons._ _

__\---_ _

__The beach was wide and golden, ringed with lush green trees. Matsuri had brought a blanket with her and some food which she packed in her backpack._ _

__“Let’s check this place out so I can get to the beach!” She jumped out of the boat and onto the sand and quickly stumbled, her legs giving out from under her. Strong hands grabbed her arms, saving her from falling flat on her face._ _

__“Thank you, Ryou-kun.” She looked gratefully up at him. “What’s wrong with my legs?” she frowned, trying to steady herself while holding onto Ryou._ _

__“You have sea legs,” he answered. “Give it a few minutes.”_ _

__“Why aren’t you affected?”_ _

__He just looked at her expressionless. Matsuri sighed, of course he and Ango wouldn’t be affected. They were super humans after all, born and bred for such stuff._ _

__“Come on,” Ango called from further up the beach, obviously eager to explore the area._ _

__“Come, Matsuri,” Ryou said, but he waited for her to start walking and kept his hold on her arm to make sure she wouldn’t stumble or fall._ _

__“They aren’t coming back that quickly,” she said, as her legs refused to cooperate. “Just let me sit here, and you go with Ango.” She didn’t want to hold him back._ _

__“Ok.” Ryou helped her sit up the beach out of the surge. He crouched in front of her momentarily and cupped her face. “We won’t be far, just call if you need me.”_ _

__“Don’t worry about me, Ryou-kun.” She smiled at him. She loved when he touched her like that. He hardly ever spoke about his feelings, but she could feel them in his touch, in the way he always looked out for her. “Go on, Ango-kun is waiting. I’ll be fine right here.”_ _

__He stood up and looked down at her. “Don’t follow me. If you want me, call. We won’t be out of range.”_ _

__Matsuri huffed and nodded. Ryou knew better than to trust that. The girl would follow him if she thought he was going to leave her behind, with no care to her own safety. She was a bit… clingy at times. Not that he minded it anymore. However, if she got it in her mind to follow he’d much prefer she’d be beside him where he could keep an eye on her. “Stay here Matsuri. I need to trust that you’ll stay right here.”_ _

__“Fine, I’ll stay right here.” Silly Ryou, she thought. He thought she’d go traipsing off into the bush after him. She felt much more confident in their relationship now, and didn’t feel the need to follow him absolutely everywhere. Now if it were an abandoned ship, or a new found silo or shelter or someplace _interesting_ , well then she’d be all in. Trees and plants were totally unnecessary for her to check out at the moment. There would plenty of time for that later. After her vacation.__

____She watched as he left and disappeared with Ango into the deep foliage edging the beach. Matsuri took off her shoes and wriggled her toes in the sand enjoying the soft warmth of it. She loved the beach. After a while she spread out her blanket and took her time to explore the small beach they were on. She made sure to stay close to where she had been planted but picked up shells and twigs and pretty leaves that she saw as she walked. She kept an eye on the water, looking for shellfish that would be easy to reach, but figured that they’d be deeper and that the boys would have to dive for them later._ _ _ _

____She put her collection out and started to build herself a sand castle. It seemed like forever since she had made one and she was happily occupied with her creation, when they came clambering out of the bush carrying a bunch of plants that they dropped beside her blanket._ _ _ _

____“Check these out Matsuri.” Ango called to her. “They may be edible.”_ _ _ _

____“I’ll be there in a sec, I just want to finish this.”_ _ _ _

____“What are you doing?” Ryou asked as he eyed what she was doing suspiciously. “Is that a trap for crabs or fish that you are building?”_ _ _ _

____“No, it’s a sand castle.”_ _ _ _

____“A what?” Both boys had made their way over and were looking down at her._ _ _ _

____“A sand castle.”_ _ _ _

____“What is it for?” Ango asked._ _ _ _

____Ryou had crossed his arms across his chest. “What purpose does it serve?”_ _ _ _

____“I’m making it for fun.” She smiled up at him. “You can help if you want, you know.”_ _ _ _

____“For fun?” Ango sounded totally gob smacked to her. “You are playing in the sand for fun?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes, for fun.” She sat back on her heels as she placed the last of her shells on it. “I’m going to make the moat next and the waves will fill it. It will be just like a real castle. Want to help?”_ _ _ _

____“Ah no…” Ango backed up away from her and Ryou followed him. “We’ve seen some tracks back here, and want to check them out. They likely lead to the closest fresh water.”_ _ _ _

____“Is that what you do on vacation?” she heard Ango whispering to Ryou as they headed off again, and she giggled to herself. They really had no idea how to relax and do things that had no meaning just for the pleasure of it. It was a shame, but she figured she had four days and they’d be building their own sandcastles by the end of them. Well, maybe not that, but she would find something to be a ball at least and teach them beach volleyball. They’d like that._ _ _ _

____Before too long, Ryou and Ango reemerged from the bush again and she could see how exhilarated they were with exploring. She was quite happy to be on the beach while they went running through the bush. She was ready to stretch out in the sun for a while and enjoy the warm sand beneath her. Maybe she’d even take a nap._ _ _ _

____“Matsuri, we’re getting our bags, we’re going to get meat for dinner.” Ryou said as he passed her heading to their small dory. He paused and looked at her. “You’re alright here?”_ _ _ _

____“Sure thing!” She smiled sunnily at him and waved him on. “I’m just going to lie out and tan a bit.”_ _ _ _

____She got up and stripped off her shirt and shorts, revealing her new bikini. It turned out well she thought, looking down at it and tightening the little strings that held it on her hips. She was getting pretty good at sewing._ _ _ _

____“Argh… wha….”_ _ _ _

____She turned to look at the boys. Ango had turned his back totally covering his face with his arms and Ryou had his blank expression on, except she could see his eyes had widened under his bangs._ _ _ _

____“What are you doing Matsuri?” he asked. His voice sounded slightly unsteady to her which was unusual. “What are you wearing?”_ _ _ _

____“Oh this?” She spun in a circle to show it off. “It’s my new bikini.”_ _ _ _

____“Bikini?” he sputtered out. Ango had turned back and was peaking between his arms at her._ _ _ _

____“Well yes, it’s a bathing suit for a girl. I made it myself.”_ _ _ _

____“But…” Ryou had seen the girls in his class in bathing suits, and they looked nothing like this. They had tight shorts that covered them from their waist to their upper thigh, and their tops came down to their ribs. This was… well it was barely there. Matsuri was covered by the smallest of triangles that concealed practically nothing._ _ _ _

____“It turned out great doncha think?” She was grinning at him, and gods no, she was starting to bounce slightly. She might just fall out of the bit of nothing top she was wearing. She couldn’t possibly be serious. Girls did not wear such things._ _ _ _

____“It’s lacking material.”_ _ _ _

____“I know, it’s the fashion.” She stopped and looked at him, her smile fading. “Don’t you like it Ryou-kun?”_ _ _ _

____“No.” He really didn’t know what to think. Did he like it? He didn’t mind it for himself, but he was uncomfortable with Ango seeing her in it. Why did he feel that way? When had his focus shifted from watching over Ango to watching over her? He found that they had rubbed off on him, the Summer B’s, and her most of all. He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “It doesn’t cover enough. It protects nothing. It looks inadequate.”_ _ _ _

____“All the girls wear them Ryou-kun,” she stated, sticking her nose in the air and pouting. He could hear Ango choking behind him and wanted to punch him. “It’s for swimming and I can use it for the sauna. So we call all go in it together instead of taking turns.”_ _ _ _

____Hell no, they weren’t. She was so not wearing that with them in the sauna. No way. There would still be turns. His thoughts surprised him. Why did he care what she chose to wear?_ _ _ _

____“Besides, Botan-san would always swim topless. This is way more than she used to wear when swimming.”_ _ _ _

____That much was true. Ryou sighed to himself, feeling momentarily defeated. In her own way she was just like Ango to him in some indiscernible way. It seemed he would never totally understand these people, these Summer B people. The sauna was still out though. Later, when they were alone, he would convince her to add more material to her bikini. Or a skirt, or something… anything to cover more of her up. It was a question of safety after all, he convinced himself. “Whatever, we’re going hunting.”_ _ _ _

____He grabbed Ango by the shirt and dragged him off with Matsuri watching them bemusedly. Thankfully Ango didn’t say a word. There may have been violence if he had._ _ _ _


	7. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a really light silly drabble :)

Movie Night

It was Summer B Sunday on the boat, the next day they were going to head inland on the island. Finally. Ango was busy getting everything ready for the shore expedition. Rope, neatly coiled and non-frayed, a ball of spider silk just in case they needed it, climbing equipment, dried fish for energy, fresh water, extra clothing sealed in a waterproof bag… the list went on. He also had to stay on his toes, because Sunday was Movie Night and if he or Ryou messed up on the game there’d be hell to pay.

Movie night was great. When it got dark, Matsuri would tell them a ‘movie’, or rather a story about a movie. She was animated and used her hands to embellish and emphasis the action in the movie, and she acted the scenes out with great enthusiasm, her little face expressive and her voice changing to portray different characters. He had never seen any of these movies, so it was always enjoyable to watch and listen to her rendition of them. He was pretty sure they were totally butchered, she admitted as much since she was just going on her memory and some of the movies were what she called ‘old’, but it was rather hilarious and very entertaining.

If they failed instead of great action movies like The Terminator, The 300, or any of a multitude of super hero movies, they’d have to endure Dirty Dancing, the Titanic, or… the Notebook. He shuddered at the thought. Once they didn’t even try, and Matsuri got really mad and snippy with them and the worst of the worst happened, The Bachelor. Although he still couldn’t wrap his head around how _that_ was actually a movie. He shook himself to dislodge that horrible memory.

The game was easy, she’d made a notebook of the movies in her repertoire and some of her favorite lines from them, such as she remembered. They were allowed to see the notebook over breakfast for 15 minutes or so, then it disappeared for the rest of the week so they couldn’t study it and memorize it thoroughly. At some time during the day she’d ambush them by firing a line or quote at them and they had to figure out which movie it was from and recall and repeat the next one. 

Screw up and it was romance movie night. Get it right, it was action-adventure night. She’d lay in subtle hints during the week, so they’d be prepared. He actually rather enjoyed it, it gave him a mental workout that wasn’t focused just on the daily routine and survival. It helped keep his mind sharp.

He looked around, checking for her location. He needed to be ready for when she popped up with her question. It would not do to be caught unawares. Hmm, she was just sitting on top of the cabin and doing something to her nails… She often did that, sanding them or something so they were never ragged but smooth and round and then she’d buff them until they were shiny. He really didn’t understand.

Her big hazel eyes came up and caught his and an impish smile curved her lips. He could see the challenge in them. Oh ho, here it was. 

“What could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great stadium?”

Emperor? Stadium? He got this one.

“You would fight me?”

“Why not? Do you think I’m afraid?”

Ah there was another line. Had Ryou gotten his question right already? Was all the pressure just on himself right now? Would there be a repeat of… The Bachelor? She had said there were _seasons_ of those. He pulled himself together, he had to get the next line right. 

“Umm…”

She drummed her fingers on the deck impatiently, _tap tap tap, tap tap tap_. “It doesn’t start with umm…”

“Give me a sec, I’m thinking.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll give you thirty seconds.”

“Can you say the line again?”

“Sure. Here it is.” Matsuri was always fair when it came to games. “Why not? Do you think I’m afraid of you?”

He reached deep into his memory. He thought he had it. He grinned.

“I think you’ve been afraid all your life.”

“Woohoo! You’re right Ango-kun!” She cheered, her face lighting up. “Gladiator it is!”

A wave of relief came over him, Ryou had apparently passed too. He could now relax for the rest of the day and finish preparing for their exploration tomorrow. 

Gladiator was sure to be a great movie.


	8. The Dog House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes couples argue.
> 
> _I want to thank everyone who has been reading, hearting and commenting. It means alot. I'm using the fanfiction writing to try to get over writers block that I'm experiencing - and it's really helping :) So thank you._
> 
> _I'm going back to work soon (yay Covid 19), so I'll likely have to slow down on the drabbles but I still have loads of ideas. I don't know if I'll take them all the way to America, I'm not sure I could do justice to Tamura Yumi's world there. However, I do have an idea for a 'home coming' set of stories for when they return._
> 
> _*huggles Angellips_

The Dog House

Within days Matsuri knew she loved Hawaii. Temperate tropical weather, the heat and humidity balanced by the constant trade winds that blew through, glorious beaches – or rather ‘beach’, but she knew there were many more to find. Fresh water was plentiful and there were lots of small edible creatures. No giant carnivorous worms or spiders... so far. She was fairly positive that would change when they started into the interior of the small island. Finally there were flowers, unlike Japan. Blue ginger, bright hibiscus, sweet jasmine, heavenly smelling plumeria, all still blossoming on the island.

She had been sitting on the beach weaving baskets for food collection since she had found sweet potatoes and wanted to gather as many as she could. She missed Natsu while doing this, Natsu was a wiz at weaving baskets. And she was thinking about the flowers. She was tired of the hard homemade lye soap that Summer A made back in Sado and thought that maybe she could melt some down and add some flower essence to it with a touch of coconut oil to soften it up.

She sniffed her underarms, not too bad. It was funny how their bodies had adjusted to not needing things like deodorant in this new world. She still didn’t care for the extra hair there, but she didn’t mind the hair on her legs, it was fine and had turned into such a pale gold in the sun that you couldn’t really see it. She was too afraid to try to shave her pits with a knife though, so had to accept that everyone just had hairy armpits, including herself. At least hers was a golden blonde. It would be nice to smell like flowers again however. To smell like a girl.

She was looking at the flowers when she noticed something. Something important. Little honeybees were pollinating them, their fat fuzzy little bodies bobbing amongst the blooms. Excitement hit her. Honeybees meant… honey! They also meant… beeswax! Her mind turned the information over and over. With beeswax she could make body cream and lip balm. Perhaps she could even color the lip balm with red hibiscus. The one thing that Matsuri always wanted to be was a beautician, and with the right ingredients she could make her own soap, cream and lip balm… her very own post-apocalyptic make-up line! Good bye parched skin and dry lips!

She left the baskets and studied the bees, following them with her eyes noticing how fat their little legs were with yellow pollen. She followed their lazy movements and noticed them going into a branch in a tree. A large wave of honey comb was attached to a high branch hidden in the leaves and covered with bees. She had found it, their hive. She ran through the list of ingredients she’d need, coconut or avocado oil, flower infused water, maybe she could even extract the fragrance out of her favorite flowers and make essential oils to serve as a perfume. The possibilities were endless.

She created a list in her mind and then she started to collect and make her ingredients every day. Once all her regular work was done, she’d work on her secret project. She pressed out coconut oil, she infused water and oil with plumeria petals, she dried some red hibiscus and ground it into a fine powder, she collected perfect shells that were still joined and dove down to the bottom of the ocean to find some old bottles just like she had seen Arashi do so often. She carefully cut her bottles into the right shape and smoothed the sharp edges. She kept everything in her old room, wanting to surprise Ryou with her new sweet smelling, fully moisturized self.

The boys were often out hunting, an activity that they kept pressing her to join but she put them off, her own project in her mind. They wanted to put in a lot of stores before heading inland on the island. It made perfect sense to her, and she was quite happy to harvest and collect the plants around the beach. The four day vacation had managed to stretch to over a week, but it really wasn’t a vacation anymore since they were concentrating on gathering as much food as possible.

Finally she was ready for her final ingredient. Bees wax. Oh, they’d get the honey too which was almost equally as exciting. If she got the honey then she’d be more than pulling her own weight, it would be a fantastic score.

She had heard that bees turn docile with smoke, so she dressed in long sleeves, covered her face with her mask and Ryou’s safety glasses and using coconut husk made a smoky torch. She was ready. She could do this. Matsuri gave herself a little pep talk as she approached the bees nest. She wasn’t quite sure how to approach this, but was determined to conquer the bees for the valuable wax and yummy honey.

After placing a basket right under the hive to catch it when it fell, she carefully climbed up the tree until she made it to the branch and could finally see the hive fully. Waves of beeswax oozing with honey covered with bees that were buzzing on the honeycomb. Bees were flying around her, and she tried to ignore them knowing if she moved to bat at them she’d get stung. Leaning as close as she could, she put her smoke torch under it and waited. When it looked like the bees were moving less and she took the little hand axe she brought with her and tried to chop the branch with the hive off. It was harder than she expected. 

That is when she got her first sting. A sharp pain on her left ankle, dammit. 

“Ouch!” She exclaimed. 

Damn. The bees were now swarming around her. Another bite, this time on her neck. Another, on her right wrist right above her glove. Now she was in a panic and tried to shimmy away from the hive. A forth bite, a bee managing to make it down her collar. With that Matsuri lost her footing and fell the ten or so feet to the ground landing hard on her back, a scream ripping from her lips. She lay there stunned, the breath knocked out of her looking up at the swarm of bees swirling around. 

Then she felt another sharp sting on her neck again. She rolled to her knees and crawled away from the hive coming back out to the beach where she collapsed in the sand, tears of frustration and pain running down her face. At least this defeat hadn’t been witnessed. She could stay curled up in a ball and lick her wounds for a while, no one the wiser.

“Matsuri!” Oh frigging great. She wasn’t alone after all. Ryou and Ango were racing down the beach towards her. They must have heard her scream. She curled up tighter into a little ball of misery. She just wanted to do things on her own, to pull her own weight and prove her value to the team.

“Matsuri, are you all right?” Ryou came to his knees beside her, pulling her up, his hands running over her body inspecting for wounds, brushing off the few bees left. “What happened?”

Ango was now looking at her get-up, the goggles and mask, the long sleeves. She still had stingers in, and they throbbed with pain. She sat up fully and pulled the mask and glasses off, sure she looked absolutely horrid and sobbed, hiding her face in her hands.

“Bees?” Ango was observant. “Where are you stung?”

Now Ryou was looking closer, and he used his thumb nail to flick the two stings on her neck to remove the stingers without pushing more venom in her. Ango pulled her to her feet and the two of them were looking her over for more stings. Matsuri pulled herself together and pointed out where she was stung allowing them to get the stingers out.

“Why didn’t you wait for us?” Ango started after he looked up at the nest and the small smoking torch she had made. “That’s not how you harvest a natural hive.”

“We need to wash these stings. You’re going to be feeling them.” Ryou added, still inspecting her for more. “What the hell were you doing?”

“Honey harvesting is dangerous, you didn’t smoke it right.” Ango said.

“I just wanted to surprise you.” Matsuri answered her head bowed, she glanced up at Ryou. “I was going to make skin cream and lip balm.”

“Skin cream and lip balm?” Ryou asked, his eyes narrowing on her. “What the fuck would we need those for?”

“I want to smell nice again! I’m tired of dry skin from the salt and sun, I want to look pretty and smell like a girl again!” Matsuri felt silly and defensive now. 

“Sometimes you are such an idiot.” Ryou’s eyes held that distain that she hadn’t seen for months. “Of all the hair-brained idiocy you could come up with you chose harvesting a bee hive alone for…makeup?”

That was it. Matsuri was sore, bruised, defeated and covered with throbbing stings. And he had called her dumb. Not for the first time. Her eyes narrowed in fury. “You really think I’m stupid don’t you?”

“Isn’t it apparent?” He snarled.

Ango was looking between the two of them. He fully agreed with Ryou about the attempted harvest of a wild bee hive, but could see that this wasn’t going to end well. They hadn’t had a real argument since… well the caves in Sado, and that had been pretty intense. He wasn’t eager to witness another one to be honest.

Matsuri turned on her heel, saying not another word and stomped off towards the boat leaving them behind. 

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Ryou yelled after her. “We aren’t finished here. We need to clean those stings.”

She flipped him the bird without even turning around. They watched her jump into the little dingy and row out to the ship. Then their eyes widened as they watched her pull up the ladder.

“What the fuck?” Ryou questioned out loud. “She does know we can still climb on doesn’t she?”

Ango ran his hands through his spiky hair. “She’ll calm down, let’s just give her some time. Come check out the hive she found.”

***

It was much later in the evening when the boys climbed back on the boat. It was totally dark and quiet. It was Matsuri’s day to cook, but they found no sign of her or of dinner. The two boys looked at each other. They dropped the honey comb on the table, having collected it in the old metal sink Arashi had found all those months ago. They had expected dinner and praise.

“Matsuri!” Ryou growled, his annoyance clear in his voice. He swung open the door to their room. No sign of her. “Matsuri!”

Ango pointed to the door to what used to be her room before she moved in with him. Ryou raised an eyebrow at him and went to open it. Locked. “Matsuri come out here so we can talk about this.”

Icy silence. A sudden realization hit him, and he went back to his room noting the empty drawers. Great she removed all her own stuff. He punched the wall, and then closed his eyes. Matsuri may retreat and cry when they argued, but she always came back fighting. He wasn’t sure what to do about this total withdrawal and what it meant.

He came back out to the main cabin and Ango pushed a bowl of cold rice into his hands, and motioned for him to come up above with him. 

“I tried talking to her. She’s not coming out, she told me to tell you to go fuck yourself.”

“What the hell?” Matsuri never swore, she must be super angry.

“You better figure out how to fix it.” Ango said, eating his rice. “You shouldn’t have–“

“Yah, I know.” Ryou cut him off and rubbed his forehead. He really shouldn’t have called her an idiot, but for god’s sake what she did _was_ stupid. Perhaps he was equally as stupid for yelling at her. He had been scared when he had heard her scream, and then again when he saw her curled up into a little ball on the beach. She didn’t need to be called dumb though. She wasn’t, she was really bright. He knew her insecurities and it had been a low blow. He had a cruel streak that sometimes got away from him. He sighed.

“You’re in the proverbial dog house.” Ango told him. “You know, I think you better figure out how to apologize. I mean last time you didn’t, and you got away with it because of what we were dealing with at the time. I get the feeling it’s not going to be so easy for you this time.”

“Fuck.”

***

It was a miserable night for Ryou, all his entreaties at her door were met with silence, and he had tossed in his lonely bed all night. He finally fell asleep at the end of the night, and woke later than his usual 5am wake time, tired and blurry eyed. He sighed, flopping his arm over his eyes. How did you get your girlfriend to forgive you when they refused to talk to you?

He came out onto the top of the deck, and as expected Ango was already up. He handed him a cup of hot tea and pointed to the beach.

Ryou followed his finger and there to his surprise in the dim dawn light was Matsuri sitting on the beach, her knees pulled up to her chest as she looked over the ocean watching the sun light it from behind as it rose over the island.

“She was there when I got up.” Ango said. 

“Great, she can’t ignore me there.” Ryou stripped down to swim to shore since she had the dingy on the beach. 

When he finally got to her she wouldn’t even look at him, totally ignoring his presence as she stared over the waves. He sat down beside her, tension thick between them.

“I’m sorry, Matsuri.” He said, watching her. She made no indication she had even heard him. 

Silence. Icy silence broken only by the sound of the waves hitting the beach. He reached out to touch her and she flinched from him making his hand still and drop.

“I didn’t mean to call you an idiot.” He tried again.

She tucked her face into her knees hiding it. “Yes you did.”

“I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s the truth though, it’s what you really think. It’s not the first time you’ve said something like that.” Her voice was muffled in her knees. He could tell she’d been crying. “I just let it go before.”

“I… I sometimes say things without thought. You take risks and you behave unsafely at times. You were injured.” He paused, realizing he had really hurt his girl. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. I mean you sometimes do idiotic things, but I know you’re really smart. I was just frightened and I don’t deal well with fear, so I said something I didn’t mean.”

She kept her face tucked into her knees. “You made me feel dumb, like I’m less than you and Ango. I don’t want to be in a relationship with someone who thinks I’m not an equal.”

Ah, a blow straight to the heart freezing him inside. Did she really believe he didn’t think she was his equal? Hell, she had more balls than anyone else he knew when it came to him, she was more than equal. It just was that she didn’t have the skills or training that he or Ango did. Was she trying to break up with him? Forget that. It wasn’t going to happen.

“That’s not true. You’re my partner, you’re more than equal.” He reached out and put his hand on her nape, feeling how she stiffened under his touch. He ignored that, and let his fingers sooth her gently. “You're one of the smartest people I know, you know all sorts of things I don’t, you’re extremely observant. Especially about people.”

He could feel her body tension release the slightest of bits. “Anyhow, I’m sorry.”

“Fine.” Her voice still muffled. She was still curled up into herself, still not looking at him.

“You know I love you.” He admitted. 

Her face lifted from her knees, her eyes bright with tears as she looked at him in surprise. He’d never said the words to her before. He reached out and cupped her face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. 

“I’m an asshole sometimes. You know that. If I call you an idiot again, feel free to punch me.”

She giggled softly, her voice still slightly ragged from crying. “Like I could.”

“I’ll let you.” He smiled at her, relief flooding through him. “Just, not the silent treatment ok. We can fix anything between us, but not if we don’t talk.”

“Ryou-kun you once told me you have no bad points, but you know, you’ve got plenty.”

He pulled her into his arms and tucked her head under his chin. Her body slackened into his, the tension between them broken. He relaxed, feeling his world turn back right side up. “I’m pretty sure I don’t.” 

“Uh huh. Sure…” she muttered under her breath. He could almost hear her eyes roll with disbelief and felt his lips twist into a small grin over her head. This girl saw right through him all too well.

“I still want the bees wax by the way. For my skin cream and lip balm.” 

“Bees wax makes excellent candles.” He mused, thinking about better uses for the wax. “And we can use it to seal jars and bottles.”

She tilted her head to glare at him. “You can have the next hive we find. This one is mine.” Then her face smoothed out and she grinned at him. “Ryou-kun, tell me you love me again.”


	9. Coffee Beans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> * disclaimer: I own none of the lyrics used in this story

Coffee Beans

They set off early in the morning after they ate. Ango decided to go inland a kilometer or two and then to circle the island first before heading to the volcanic mountain that it seemed to center around. He wanted to set a steady clip, not too fast for a few reasons. First the terrain was tough with thick vegetation and although their packs were light in his opinion, he knew that they would begin to weigh if they moved too fast. Secondly, although he and Ryou could set a really fast pace and cover a lot of ground efficiently and quickly, there was no way that Matsuri could keep up. If he went too fast for her she’d either become fatigued or be rushed and make mistakes which could lead to injury, so he didn’t want to set a hard pace. As it was they had to wait for her, and give her breaks as she trailed behind them.

It was alright though, as Ryou had pointed out they didn’t have a time schedule. They had sat with the maps they found on the ship and planned a route to circle the island which looked as if it could take about 2 weeks, then head to the interior where the mountain loomed and spend four to five days cliff climbing. Then they’d fast cycle back to the areas where there were things they wanted to collect, if there were edible plants or animals for harvesting for example. All in all Ango figured they’d be on the island for approximately a month or so.

According to his maps, this island was Maui. There were eight islands in total, some smaller and one main island that was much larger. If they spent a month or more per island they’d be here for a year. He cut down the islands they’d explore to the four mid-sized islands like Maui. The small ones wouldn’t be worth their time. He’d save the big one that would likely take at least three months alone to explore for their return trip. That would cut the time spent here to approximately four months, maybe five at the most before they pushed on for the three month sea voyage to America.

The first couple of days passed quickly, there were plenty of fresh water sources to stop at and although the trail was hard, it wasn’t overly difficult. They avoided most of the animals easily, noting the things they wanted to hunt for later. Like the giant boars wandering around, pretty much as big as a car. They were noisy as they rummaged through the jungle and so easily avoidable. There were tree frogs the size of a dinner plates, their glossy skins a bright green that blended with the foliage and big yellow eyes that watched them as they passed. Like Japan, there seemed to be no birds left.

“Hey guys.” Matsuri called on the third day out from where she trailed behind. By the height of the sun, it was barely mid-morning. “Stop, I want to check this out.”

Ango turned around to see her approaching a tree with bright red berries that were about the size of walnuts. 

“Don’t touch them.” Ryou said, as he turned to look too. “They could be poisonous.”

“No, I don’t think so. I remember when I was here as a kid, you know before…” Her voice trailed off as she stepped closer to inspect the berries. They covered entire branches of the tree she was at, red berries weighing them down. “My folks wanted to check out all the farms of course. Anyhow, these look like coffee beans to me.”

“Hmm?” Ango looked at them thoughtfully. Coffee would be nice to have.

“Look , there sure are a ton of them here.” Matsuri pointed down the slope she was on top of, and Ango looked down. Sure enough there were the red berry trees all down the hill. “I bet this was once a coffee plantation.”

She reached out and picked a berry and quickly pulled the outer red cover off, revealing a small yellowish bean about the size of an acorn. Matsuri held it up to the air, inspecting it and then turned to grin at them. “It’s a lot bigger than a coffee bean in the past, but I’m sure this is one. Let me pick a bunch to check out. They’ll need to be peeled, roasted and ground to make coffee, but it would be super great to have some.”

“Fine, we’ll take a short break.” Ango agreed, sitting down on a log while they waited.

“Don’t take too many, you’ll weigh yourself down.” Ryou told her as he took out his map started to scan it. “I’m going to make sure we know where this is exactly so we can come back and harvest it properly if it is coffee.”

Both boys were looking over the map when they heard the rumble of moving earth and Matsuri scream. They looked up just in time to see Matsuri disappear, the ground underneath her opening up under her feet. 

“Matsuri!” Ryou was on his feet and running to where she disappeared from, Ango right on his heels. They pulled up at the edge of what appeared to be a deep dark hole.

“Matsuri!” Ryou looked like he was going to jump down after her, and Ango grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. 

“If this ground gives way under us, you won’t be able to help her.” Ryou’s eyes were a bit wild, but he nodded in understanding. “I’ll set up the ropes, you try to get her to respond.”

“Matsuri, answer me!” Ryou yelled, still on his knees by the hole, a hint of panic in his voice.

“I’m ok.” Her voice was shaky, but she was alive. Ango felt a wave of relief. 

“Are you hurt?” He asked as he anchored his rope to a tree. “Are you injured?”

“Umm, my wrist hurts. It’s really dark down here.” 

“Ok just stay there,” Ryou told her, his voice steadier. “We’re setting up some ropes and coming to get you.”

“Can you see anything?” Ango asked. “How deep are you?”

“It’s dark.” He could hear the sob in her voice. “My flashlight is dead. I forgot to leave in the sun to charge it.”

“Ryou toss her a lamp.” Ryou nodded and pulled out his flashlight, turned it on and tossed it down. He watched as the light fell and landed in soft dirt. Matsuri reached out and picked it up, and looked up at him. He felt like he could breathe again, she was there and she was all right. They just needed to get down there to her now.

“Thirty feet about,” Ryou reported. “The earth around the hole looks loose, so it can cave in at any time.”

“Understood.” Ango finished setting up the rope. “I’ll stay up here, you go down and help her climb out.”

“Hey guys.” Matsuri’s little voice carried up to them. “There’s something down here. Something you need to see.”

“What is it?” Ango made his way to the edge of the hole to peer down after securing himself to a tree in case the cave in continued.

“I think it’s a bunker of some sort. There is a metal circle thingy sticking out, like on the supply depots we found in Japan.”

Ryou and Ango exchanged looks. They were each weighing the pros and cons of opening such a thing. On one hand shelters and bunkers were dangerous, on the other they could also contain supplies, tools, information about… other teams and arks maybe. 

“You can’t tell the good from the bad in this world.” Ryou mused. “It will be worth it if we find something we can use.”

“We’ll have to be careful. There are only us three here, no possibility of other people coming to help us.”

“Let me check it out first, you wait here.” Ryou wound the rope into a harness around himself and then climbed into the hole. Ango watched as he lowered himself, concentrating on his own breathing to keep himself calm. Would watching others climb always make him feel this little bit of… he had no idea how to describe the feeling. Was it dread? 

As soon as Ryou landed, Matsuri threw herself in his arms. Ryou held her for a moment, taking the flashlight from her and scanned the hole they were in. He could see the latch to the bunker she was talking about. “Ok I see it.”

“Bunker?”

“Yes.” He turned his attention to the trembling girl in his arms. “Matsuri where are you hurt?”

“My wrist. It really hurts and I can’t move it.” She stepped back, her big eyes teary and held it out. Ryou checked it out, turning it and moving it, stopping when she gave a little shriek of pain. 

“I don’t think it’s broken, but it’s badly sprained.” He set his pack down and took out his medical kit. “I’m going to wrap and sling it.”

He set about wrapping it tightly in bandages, and put it in a sling to hold it close to her body. Her face was dirty and tear streaked, but she was back in control of herself. He scanned her for any other injuries, and other than a few scrapes and bruises she was fine. He took his first deep breath since this whole situation had begun.

“Thank you, Ryou-kun.” 

He reached out and brushed the dirt off her face and kissed her forehead. “I think my heart stopped when you disappeared.”

“I’m alright.” 

He looked up at Ango. “I think that the tree grew on top of the bunker, and the roots made a hollow where Matsuri was standing. Everything else looks stable down here. Come on down.”

Ango lowered himself into the pit, coming down to join them. It was dark humid, and smelt earthy but the ground at the bottom seemed solid. There in the far wall, under where the coffee tree up above as located was a steel spoke handle for a vault. The rest of the door was covered with earth, so he took out his small folding shovel and went to clear it, Ryou joining him. It took a while, but they dug out the vault door, their bodies slick with sweat and sticky with the dirt that stuck to them.

“It looks like it’s hermetically sealed.” Ryou noted, as he ran his gloved hands around the seam. “The seal is unbroken.”

“Means that whatever is in there may not have degraded.” Ango said. “It’s not a government bunker, it’s too small.”

“Civilian maybe?” Ryou had finished investigating the outside. “Some survivalist stash?”

“Well, open it up already.” Matsuri had come up behind them. “I’m dying of curiosity! There may be tons of goodies in there!”

Ango couldn’t help but smile. “Ok, make sure your masks and gloves are on. Matsuri, wait as far back as you can get until we know that the air in there is safe. If it affects us we’ll need at least one of us clear.”

He waited until they were ready, and nodded at Ryou to open it up. It took the two of them to turn the spoke wheel, but slowly it moved, groaning in protest. Then when it couldn’t open any further, Ryou pulled on the door and, after a few moments of resistance, it opened with a whoosh of cool stale air. 

Stairs led down into the bunker, the dark space of it looming before them, Ango noted it was about 5 meters wide at the bottom. They stepped in gingerly, scanning the surroundings. It was a supply depot, shelving lining the first walls they came to. Were there living quarters as well? It was impossible to see in the darkness. 

“Matsuri don’t touch anything yet.” He said. He knew that Ryou wouldn’t. “Let’s just check the whole thing out first.”

He made a list in his head as he moved deeper in, noting that the air was frigid. The seal must have kept it almost refrigerated this deep underground. On the shelves were food goods, cans and boxes of MREs. None of it looked disturbed, everything neatly stocked in place as if they had never been touched since the day they had been placed. He read the labels. First Aid, Tools, Batteries, Clothing, Ammunition. It was all methodically labeled and stored. He approved.

“It doesn’t look like whoever put this all in used any of it.” Matsuri said from behind him. “That’s kinda sad isn’t it? I mean, they put in all this effort and money and they didn’t even get a chance to use it.”

Finally the shelves gave way to a small living space. Simple military bunks at one end, a spartan kitchen area and a washroom with a composting toilet and a portable recycling shower system. All the beds were made up neatly, not a sign they’d ever been used. There was an air filtration system and a water system built in, but he wasn’t sure how they worked. Obviously they no longer functioned, being fully sealed from the surface long ago. Ango breathed deeply, it was safe. He took off his pack, putting it on a small built in bench and removed his mask.

“Ok, let’s take an inventory of things we can use.”

They spent the next few hours working together to list everything. They had large sealed bags of rice, flour and salt, canned goods that looked like they were still on a grocery store shelf, MREs. There were useful things like a huge sewing kit and bolts of material, an extensive first aid kit, a whole manual tool set, some books about survival, information that he already knew and certainly didn’t need.

“Hey look at this.” Matsuri was in the little kitchen and she stood up triumphantly holding a bottle of something. “Whisky I think.”

“Alcohol can be used to clean wounds and surgical tools.” Ango stated. “How many bottles?”

“Oh it looks like a crate of an even dozen.” She grinned, her teeth white in her dirty face. “But Ango-kun, there are other uses for whisky.” 

He just shook his head. 

“Hey Ryou, look what I found.” She cried out a little later, excitedly. “A new deck of cards! You can’t have this one. Oh look, and some board games.”

He was curious, so he went over to look at what she was pulling out from one of the shelves.

“Monopoly, chess, checkers, backgammon. A few others I’ve never seen. This is the best storage depot yet!”

“Games?” Ryou asked. He rather thought it was the most useless find yet, that the food and tools were far more valuable, but knew better than to say that aloud.

“Yes! Don’t tell me you never played board games before.” Her eyes narrowed on them. “This is the best find of fun stuff ever!”

Matsuri found the oddest things, Ango noted. She had collected alcohol, games and now was messing around with a hand cranked radio. 

“That won’t be useful. There are no radio stations anymore.” 

“Hmm, maybe. But look it has an USB port and is solar rechargeable as well. Look for a flash drive.”

“A what?”

“Never mind.” She pursed her lips. “You two old fogies are hopeless. I just wonder if they left something with… music on it.”

“Music?” Ryou asked, looking up from where he was catalogue the ammunition. “I don’t care for it.”

“Listen old man, you have only heard classical and our god awful homemade instruments, although I have to admit it’s not half bad when Haru plays.” She was riffling through some small drawers. “You have never been exposed to the sweet sounds of Beyonce and Rihanna.” 

Ryou rolled his eyes at her, returning to what he was doing. “Whatever.”

“Careful, I may need to introduce a music night.” She grinned at him, mischief in her eyes and started humming before breaking out singing. “ _Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world._ ”

“You know you are,” Ryou said, not looking at her “At least you are right here.” 

She just laughed and kept on singing, hamming it up while they worked. Ango had to admit that Matsuri had a nice voice. She was dancing around, putting her all into it now playing it up. It reminded him of movie night. What suggestive lyrics though… He raised a brow, but Ryou just smirked as he watched her while he sorted his box. She was so silly, overacting and exaggerating all her movements. 

He wondered what it would have been like with just Summer A here. They would have efficiently divided up the entire bunker, each person responsible for their area. There would certainly be no interest in games and definitely no singing and hopping around like Matsuri was doing. It would have been a lot less… fun. 

“Woot! I found one!” She stopped singing and did a little dance of joy, holding up a small blue stick about the size of his baby finger. “I hope it has music on it!” 

“Good, now you can get back to work.” Ryou told her, pushing a box of first aid supplies onto the table in front of her. She just hummed happily and sat down to sort through it with her good hand. 

“It’s too much for us to take.” Ango said when they were finished, sitting down at the table looking over the list. “I don’t trust the canned foods either. Besides they are heavy. We will determine what items are needed right now other then them, and leave the rest for later.” 

“It can work as a supply depot,” Ryou said. “We can take a few days to take the items we want, and leave the rest catalogued and inventoried. This way we know what we have when we stop back here on our way home. We can restock at that time.” 

“It will take three days to hike it back.” Ango was thinking, his mind making lists. “That will be a determining factor in how much we can take.” 

“Why don’t we just move the boat closer?” Matsuri asked. “I mean, we are just a kilometer or so from the coast right? We go find the nearest beach that is good for anchoring in, mark it off so we can see it easily from the sea and go collect the boat. Wouldn’t that make the most sense?” 

The two boys looked at her. 

“Clever girl.” Ryou smiled at her. 

“We can move what we want over a few days, then load it all up all at once.” Ango stood up and stretched. He didn’t want to waste any time. “It will be much more efficient. Let’s go find our new beach. Tomorrow we’ll retrieve the boat.” 

“I’m naming it Matsuri’s Coffee Stop!” Matsuri danced around a bit. “I mean I am the one who found it after all.” 

“Sure, Mat-chan.” Ango unconsciously slipped into a nickname for her. He looked at her, taking in her bright eyes and easy smile. Not for the first time he was happy she had joined them. “Next time, try not to find one by falling in a pit though, ok. I think that took ten years off my life.” 


	10. Teenage Rite of Passage

Teenage Rite of Passage

The night was warm, the waves from the Pacific soothing as they rolled ashore. The beach was a lovely little alcove on the edge of the jungle about a kilometer from the bunker. A small river fed into the ocean at the very end of it, the water tumbling from the stones and creating a small swimming hole before it bled into the ocean, fresh water mixing with salt. 

It had been a long day beginning with Matsuri falling down a pit, finding and inventorying a bunker, the hike to find the beach which luckily had the fresh water right there, which was perfect for washing off the sweat and dirt from digging and hiking. They were sated with fresh fish caught at the beach and Matsuri had put her blankets out on the warm sand.

The three of them now sat around a huge bonfire, watching as the glowing red-orange sparks flew up towards the stars in the navy night sky, as if they were trying to reach the stars themselves to join them. Ango and Ryou were discussing inventory and what to bring down first, the fastest way to hike back to the boat to retrieve it, and how many days it would take to load it. Matsuri ignored them as she fiddled with her wind-up radio, trying to figure out how it worked.

Finally she put the radio down, finished with it for a time and looked at the two boys who were _still_ blabbing on about work. She decided that she’d had enough of that for one day. Didn’t these Summer A’s know how to turn it off? She giggled to herself, she knew they didn’t. However she had a plan. A plan to actually see them without all their guards up.

She rummaged around in her bag until she found exactly what she was looking for, pulled it out and popped the lid off with her small pen knife. The sound caught their attention, and both boys looked over at her.

“What are you doing with that?” Ango said. “I thought we decided what we would use it for earlier.”

“Well, maybe you did.” Matsuri grinned at him. “But I found it and I decided that this is what I wanted to use it for.”

He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“I mean, here we are on a freaking post-apocalyptic beach in Hawaii sitting around a bonfire, and you two are discussing… bags of rice. Did you never sneak out with your friends when you were at school?”

“No, of course not.” Ango was confused. “Ryou¬–“

“No, of course not.” Matsuri cut him off, her voice silky and mocking. “Koruri told me you two were the top students at your school. No doubt two super star scholars like you never did anything against the rules.”

Ryou chuckled, putting his head down. “Is that what you think?”

“Undoubtedly.” Matsuri grinned and pulled up the bottle of whisky she was holding. “That is why we’re going to act like normal teens for a change.”

“You would sneak out at night?” Ryou looked at her, his eyes amused. “And you would be bad?”

“Of course.” She took a swig from the bottle, wrinkling up her nose and making the cutest face of disgust possible. “I would sneak out to parties and meet boys.”

“I thought–“ Ryou started, his voice still full of laughter.

“You were. That doesn’t mean I never kissed anyone else.” She rolled her eyes and took another swig and passed the bottle to him. “Your turn.”

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Ango stated, looking suspiciously at the bottle Ryou was holding. Ryou just winked at him and took a swig too.

“Well, it certainly doesn’t have that edginess to it, that fear of being caught.” Matsuri said, her eyes narrowing. “There are no parents or adults around to come and ruin the fun, which rather makes it less fun. So let’s just pretend that giant carnivorous toads the size of a fridge with three toes are going to swarm out of the jungle and eat us just as soon as you take a drink and let your guard down.”

Ryou laughed and took another swig and passed the bottle back to her. “That works for me. I’m sure that Ango will now be living with fear about that possibility.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Ango ran his hand through his hair. “We need to set up night watch, and get proper rest.”

“Oh stop being so stuffy.” Matsuri took another drink and wiped her mouth with her hand holding the bottle, using her bandaged wrist as a towel. “This is a freaking teenage rite of passage.”

Ango looked at the bottle in her hand. “I’ve never drank before.”

“I didn’t expect you had.” Matsuri grinned at him and passed him the bottle. He took a tentative sip, feeling the heat of it slip down his throat and settle in his stomach.

“So Matsuri, tell me exactly how bad you were?” Ryou had a teasing note in his voice and he leaned over and grabbed the bottle from Ango and took a drink before handing it back.

“Oh…” She flashed him a little impish smile. “I was a very naughty girl.”

“Were you now?” Ryou leaned back, a hint of laughter in his voice, but also something sensual.

Ango took another sip, this time it went down easier making him feel warm inside.

“I snuck out, I skipped classes, I got a lot of detentions. I played around in town instead of helping at the farm.” She took the bottle from him for a sip. “Heck I even ran away from home.”

 _Run away. Why didn’t you run away?_ Ango remembered those words of Arashi’s. Matsuri had actually done it. He took a big swig at the thought and handed the bottle off to Ryou.

“Sounds just like Ryou,” he said. “He was always a troubled child.”

“Hmm, I don’t believe it. He’s too perfect, he was top of your class.” Matsuri said. “I doubt either of you ever even got a detention.”

“Baby, I was the king of detentions.” Ryou laughed. 

“Well, detentions aren’t that bad.” She burrowed her toes into the sand, looking a little unsteady.

“What exactly were detentions to you Mat-chan?” Ango asked, curious about civilian life. “How long did they stick you in a box?”

“A box? No, never. That would be illegal. Kids who were bad had to sit in class for an extra hour at the end of the day.” She wrinkled her little nose in thought. He watched as her expression turned to outrage. “They stuck you in a box? Those perverted teachers!”

“That was minimal.” Ryou said. “Stuck in a box for days, hung upside down in a pit for hours, or the red room–”

“No, Ryou. Don’t talk about it.” Ango now took a big gulp, the thought of the carnage room shaking him. His head now had a pleasant buzz going on. He wanted to forget the carnage room.

“Ango was the merit student.” Ryou continued, grabbing the bottle and taking a sip. “As he said, I was the rebel. I saw how it was, the choosing wasn’t dependent on following the rules.”

“It’s true, he opposed the teachers, behaved badly at all times, picked fights,” Ango grumbled, his voice slurring ever so slightly. “I believe he even smoked.”

“Well now, that must be why I am so attracted to you, Ryou-kun.” Matsuri purred. “I have a thing for bad boys.”

Ryou shot her a wicked grin back. “I know.”

Ango took another gulp of the booze at that. Sometimes it was difficult to be the third wheel to their twosome. Like right now. He sighed. At least he had them, Ryou who was his opposite and greatest rival had somehow turned into his greatest ally, and Matsuri the little ball of energy that never stopped had become an integral part of their group. If he lost Ryou, he’d lose her too. The thought frightened him. The thought that he could lose either or both. Then he would truly be alone.

“Hmm,” Matsuri stood up, wobbling slightly before deciding it was better to settle back down. “Talking about your perverted teachers is not fun. Let’s play a drinking game.”

“A drinking game?” Ryou drawled lazily, he was lounging back, his legs spread out in front of him.

“Sure, we’ll play Never Have I Ever.” Matsuri stated. “You have to share something that you’ve never done before and everyone who has done it has to take a drink. I’ll start.”

“How does one win this game?” Ango asked.

“There are no winners, the key is to make your friends admit embarrassing things about themselves.” Matsuri shifted so she was sitting on her knees. “Ok here I go. Never have I ever… kissed a girl.”

Ryou snickered and grabbed the bottle to take a generous drink. Ango’s eyes widdened a bit, he had forced a kiss on Ayu that once. Did it count? It wasn’t a real kiss, a mutual kiss. He grabbed the bottle to take a swig anyhow.

“See I knew that Ango has kissed a girl before!” Matsuri crowed. “Who was the lucky lady?”

“Umm…” Ango could feel himself flush. “Nobody…”

“Secretive guy huh? Well the night is young. You know at one time I thought maybe there was something going on between the two of you.”

Ango’s eyes bugged out. “What do you mean?”

“Ryou used to watch you all the time, and never me. Semi thought the same thing.”

“Because he was losing himself in the past.” Ryou stated, the slightest frown of exasperation on his face. “Seriously, you Summer B’s are annoyingly intrusive at times.”

“Well, I know different now.” Matsuri giggled and blew him a kiss. “Your turn, Ryou.”

“Well there are a lot of things I haven’t done,” he mused thoughtfully, mollified by her giggling. It would be fairly easy to name a bunch of stuff they never got to experience and get Matsuri super drunk, but that didn’t sound fun. “Never have I ever cheated at a test.”

“Hmm I don’t know about that one,” Matsuri said speculatively. “I mean your idea of what constitutes a test is a bit off in my opinion.”

He smiled lazily at her. “Did you or didn’t you?”

“Fine,” she huffed and grabbed the bottle for a drink. “I won’t bother passing it to you Ango, we all know Mr. Model Student would never cheat on a test. Your turn.”

“Never have I ever tripped someone in public.” Ango shot a glare at Ryou.

“Hah, good one.” Ryou took his drink.

“You did that Ryou? I never thought of you as a bully.” Matsuri frowned. “Why did you do that?”

“I never thought Shigeru was any good. He depended on Ango too much, dragged him down. Besides it got a rise out of merit boy there.”

“I’ve never tripped anyone, but I’ve been mean to people myself. We all do stupid things when we’re kids I guess. And don’t I depend on you?”

“It’s different now.” Ryou said. “Everything is different now. We aren’t the same people anymore.”

“Fair enough, I guess it’s my turn then.” Matsuri put her hands behind her back leaning on them, thinking. “Hmm… never have I ever gotten into a physical fight. I’m pretty sure you’ll both be drinking.” She sat back up and grinned.

“I’m pretty sure that is cheating.” Ryou said, but he took a drink anyhow. “Here Ango, drink up like a good boy.”

Ango glared at him, and grabbed the bottle. “It was your fault we always fought.”

“Oh ho, you two fought with each other? I find that hard to believe… I mean you are so close.” 

“We hated each other.” Ryou said. “We are total opposites, we are rivals. But I always respected Ango.”

“Same.” Ango grunted, his head spinning. “Without Ryou challenging me I would never have excelled.”

“You don’t hate each other anymore do you?” 

“No… It’s strange but Ryou’s my… friend now.” Ango stated, he felt confused. When and how had Ryou become his best friend? He couldn’t imagine a time without him now.

“My turn,” Ryou handed the bottle to Ango. “Don’t get all soppy. You’ll need this. Never have I ever missed my target.”

“Wait, I don’t understand that.” Matsuri said. “What kind of target.”

Ango just took a drink. “Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t a question aimed at you. He’s talking about target practice. Ryou would always hit the human targets, I wouldn’t.”

“Hey, Ryou you have to ask questions that all of us can answer.” Matsuri leaned over and poked him as she giggled. “Otherwise the game doesn’t work.” 

“Never have I ever been stuck in an elevator.” Ango said, and he allowed himself to smirk.

“Hell, you’ve never even been in one.” Ryou said, as he took another drink, and passed the bottle to Matsuri. He could tell they were all getting a bit tipsy, including himself. He rather liked the freeing feeling. He watched as she took a big gulp, and gasped. Her eyes were overly bright and her cheeks were flushed, as were Ango’s.

“Ok finally, my turn again. Never have I ever danced naked.” Matsuri sat back triumphantly.

“Well, sweetheart, I don’t think either of us has ever danced.” Ryou said, his voice teasing. “Never mind naked. Drink up.”

“Really? No way!” She looked at them sputtering. “You two have never danced?”

“Nope.” Ango admitted. He had no idea why he would want to dance.

“Well then you have to dance!” Matsuri jumped up and clapped her hands together. She was a bit unsteady on her feet but she didn’t fall. “I wound this thing up as much as my poor arm could. Let’s see if it actually works.” She picked up the radio she had been playing with, and fiddled with it a bit. Suddenly the quiet was broken by some horrible sound and she jumped up and down in joy.

“Oh my god, it works!!! And it’s music!! I think we only have a half hour, and it took me at least three hours of cranking, but the thing works!” She put it down and started hopping around. “My Sharona! This is some really old stuff, but it’s great!” 

Ryou sat back and watched her dance around to the beat. She was waving her hands in the air, her hair flying around, her face full of joy. She was moving totally with the beat from the strange music, and was mesmerizing.

“Common Ryou!” She had danced over to him and pulled on his hands.

“I don’t know how.” He smirked at her, resisting. 

“Oh give me a break! You are like the most physical, most coordinated person I know. Just get up here and dance. Let your body do what it wants!” 

He groaned and got up, not quite sure what to do.

“You too Ango, let’s dance!” She grabbed his arm and pulled him up as well, her feet never stopped moving. She was relentless. “You are not too cool to dance!”

The two boys looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to do with Matsuri between them dancing away.

“Like this, move your feet and your body.” 

Ryou reluctantly started to follow her movements and she was spinning around him laughing as she danced. The music changed to another song with a catchy beat and Ryou seemed to have figured it out, so Matsuri grabbed Ango by his hands and pulled him into dancing with her. He let himself follow her lead and before he realized it he was dancing as well.

It was strangely freeing, all his inhibitions seemed to have left him with all along with his common sense. No doubt the drinking game had eased this transition. He allowed himself to just move to the music, his body finding the beat easily. Matsuri kept circling between the two of them, pushing them here, touching them on an arm there, passing the bottle around and keeping them feeling light and laughing. It was… fun.

Finally the music slowed as the crank wound down and Matsuri collapsed in the sand, breathing heavy and giggling wildly. Ango found himself dropping as well, feeling exhilarated. 

“I knew you two would be excellent dancers.” She threw herself backwards, her arms and legs out like a starfish. “Admit it, that was fun.”

“I admit nothing.” Ryou said from where he was still standing, but Ango noticed he was smiling as well.

“Come here.” She demanded holding out her uninjured hand to him, and Ryou obeyed dropping down to lay beside her, taking her hand in his. 

“Let’s look for a shooting star now. No way I’m cranking that thing again, my arm is killing me.”

“Haven’t you already gotten your wish?” Ryou asked her, he was looking up at the stars as well. 

She rolled over, propped herself up and kissed him. “You can figure it out yourself.” She said when she drew back, and she nestled herself into his side, her head on his shoulder. Ryou tucked his arm around her and just held her close.

Ango averted his eyes. He sometimes disliked when they got all clingy like this. It reminded him that he was on the outside of their little circle of two. Oh he was happy for them, he just longed for something similar. Someday he promised himself.

He enjoyed lying in the sand looking at the stars. It felt peaceful. The comfortable silence between the three of them was relaxing.

It was bright when he woke up the next morning, and he groaned, his head feeling as if it had been hit by an axe. He was lying in the sand, the sun high above him. He sat up feeling his head pounding and his mouth felt dry and full of cotton and his eyes gritty. His stomach lurched for a moment. Why was he laying in the sand and not in his tent?

His eyes found Matsuri and Ryou curled up together in the sand, Ryou was awake but still, watching the ocean, the girl in his arms still fully asleep.

“What time is it?” Ango managed to bite out, his voice harsh from the dryness.

“Almost noon.” Ryou shifted Matsuri in his arms. “Drink lots of water, Ango.”

“What?” He couldn’t believe it, the whole morning was gone. This had never happened before.

“Water.” Ryou repeated. “I expect you have a hangover.”

“How do you know?” He shuffled over to where his water bottle was to take a deep drink.

“I have read about it.” Ryou grimaced. “It’s my first one too.”

Matsuri rolled, her head coming up momentarily. “Oh god.” She buried her head back into Ryou’s chest. “Give me the bottle. Quick.”

Ango saw it at his feet. It was almost empty. They had drank that much? He reached down and picked it up and brought it to her. She didn’t even lift her head, just stuck out her arm to take it and he watched as she took a big swig.

“It’s day time, you shouldn’t drink now.”

“Shut it Ango. We have no coffee.” She pushed herself away from Ryou sitting up. Her ponytails were askew and she looked adorably rumpled. “Hair of the dog, you know.”

Ryou grabbed the bottle and took a swig too. “I hope this works.” He muttered. He held out the bottle to Ango who accepted it, copying them.

“It was worth it wasn’t it though.” Matsuri was fussing with her hair and grinned at them both. “Welcome to being a teenager.”

“I’m not doing it again.” Ango said. “It was foolish, an extreme breach of judgment. Something could have happened and we were all vulnerable.”

Matsuri looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Yep, good thing those giant man-eating three toed toads didn’t come down and eat us.”

Ryou laughed, and they all got up and started to pack so they could get moving for the day. Ango thought about it as they set out. Despite the hangover, he had enjoyed the night, and he had learned a lot about his two friends. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to allow himself to lower his guard now and then.


	11. Bacon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunting never goes as planned.

Bacon

It was hunting day and Matsuri was nervous. She had never really hunted before, depending on others to provide meat or fish. It wasn’t that she was incapable, just that she hadn’t been needed to help hunt. Semimaru and Arashi had always provided seafood for Summer B, and when Ryou and Ango arrived they added in meat from hunting along the shore. They still provided all the protein for their smaller group of three, while she was responsible for gathering edible plants using her agricultural skills to identify, prepare, and grow food.

She had a small container garden on the boat in Arashi’s old bathtub growing herbs and leafy greens on its bottom, the tall sides of the tub providing shelter from the wind and sea spray to the plants growing inside. It was pretty easy to maintain and she found she enjoyed growing things and providing food. The soft dirt felt good and warm in her hands. Someday, when they settled, she’d grow a huge garden full of different foods. For now, she was mostly a forager.

Today however she had to help with the hunt. The boars left roaming around on the islands were huge, about the size of a small car, and the boys intended on taking down one with nothing more than their knives. Matsuri’s job was to help flush one out of the bush and into the dead-end where they decided to corner one. Ryou would be helping her flush one out, and Ango would be waiting at the end ready to strike the first blow so they could pin it to complete the kill.

Her job was easy, she wouldn’t have to actually hurt the animal. A fact that she was very grateful for. She was still slightly squeamish, despite being thrust into a post-apocalypse survival of the fittest world. Matsuri had always been a girly girl. She had changed a lot since she had arrived here, but there was that part of her that was still stuck in the old world and rather liked being there.

She finished dressing, making sure that she had her arms and legs covered so that she could run through the thick brush without getting scratches from the undergrowth. She pulled on one of Ryou’s caps to cover her hair so it wouldn’t snag on branches and stuffed her gloves in her pocket. She was ready.

When she came out to the main part of the cabin, Ango and Ryou were pouring over a map they had made finalizing their plan.

“Okies, I’m ready.” Matsuri slid into the bench beside Ryou.

“We’ve decided to change the sauna to a smokehouse,” Ango said, glancing up at her. 

“You’ve decided?” She frowned at him. “Where was my input on this decision?”

“We just talked about it now.”

“Without me?” Matsuri was annoyed. They were supposed to be three equal partners in all decisions, not two Summer A’s deciding and she the only Summer B getting blindsided. “We need the sauna. How else are we supposed to bathe?”

“We’re relocating the portable shower from the bunker to the boat. It filters and recycles water, so we can use it a few times, then use the greywater for laundry. It has a system that uses sunlight for heating the water if we set it up on deck when we need it.” Ango could see her eyes darkening and knew they should have waited for her before deciding.

“I like the sauna.” She flattened her lips, her brows down in a glower. “It’s not fair that you decided without me.”

“The shower will be better. Right now we have to jump in the ocean after the sauna so we’re still covered with saltwater. Sponge baths are the only way to get the salt off.” 

“I veto this idea!” Matsuri said, her eyes spitting fire. “I want to keep the sauna and–”

“Bacon.” Ryou cut her off, whispering in her ear, his breath teasing the small curls that had escaped her cap. 

“What? What did you say?” Her eyes widened and she looked over at him.

“Bacon.” He smiled a sinful smile at her. “We have the salt, we’ll have the boar. All we need is the smoke, and we’ll have bacon.”

“Ohhh.” Matsuri breathed, her eyes big and she could feel the saliva gathering in her mouth.

“Bacon, ham, smoked ribs, sausages.” He continued, holding up a finger for each one. “All preserved and hanging in the smokehouse. We can also smoke fish so we won’t need to fish daily.”

Ango nodded approvingly. “You see, we need to change the sauna over. You’ll prefer the shower in the end.”

“What about privacy?” she asked. “I mean, I’m the only girl here. You said it would be up on deck.”

“We’ll use some of the extra sailcloth and make a screen or something. That is nothing to worry about.”

“And, to sweeten the deal, you as the only girl can have the first shower when we have the freshwater for it every time,” Ryou added. “Ango and I don’t care if the water is recycled.”

“Ok, I guess I agree.” She didn’t want to let them win that easily, but she found that their reasoning was solid. “But you can’t make these kinds of decisions without me. It’s not fair.” 

She pouted slightly, but her eyes were warm and bright. It was a great idea, and she rather liked the idea of a freshwater shower. The seawater was drying and left her skin feeling sticky, and sponge baths weren’t all that satisfying. Besides, bacon… It was a worthy goal.

Before too long they had trudged to where they planned to get their boar. Trudged was Matsuri’s word for it, no doubt Ango and Ryou considered it a gentle stroll in the park. It was hot, and she disliked wearing so much clothing, much preferring a t-shirt and shorts for the climate. 

“Ok, so Ryou is taking the north, and you, Matsuri, the south. When the boar is seen, you just need to scare it, both of you keep pace and corral it here.” Ango was going over the plan. The boys had taken a couple of days to place downed trees and brush in the natural dead-end by some small cliffs, so once the boar was in, there was no easy quick escape. Of course, she was getting all the instructions. They likely were speaking though some sort of superhuman Summer A telepathy thingy, knowing exactly who was going to do what, when, and where. 

“Yes, I know.” She huffed slightly, feeling sticky and hot already. “You’ve gone over the plan several times already.”

“Matsuri, there is never too many times to make sure it goes down right.” Ango spoke firmly to her, using what she had termed his ‘boss’ voice. “When we make the kill, we’ll do the butchering here to keep it away from our beach and for easy transport back to the boat. We can render the fat right here too, take it down when it’s cooled in containers.”

“Mmmhmm.” Matsuri wished she was more into this, but she really was feeling a little squeamish about the thought of blood and butchering. Sure she was a farm girl, but her folks did fresh produce, not livestock destined for the market. Yes, they had animals such as chickens, ducks, goats and a couple of cows but they sent any large animals for butchering to, well, the butcher and they came back neatly packaged in brown paper for the freezer.

“Ok, take your positions, these boars are huge so be careful.” Ango said. “Take no unnecessary chances, if something goes wrong, let it go. We’ll get a different boar.”

“Yessir.” Matsuri gave him a little saucy salute and was sure she saw Ryou roll his eyes. 

“Come on Matsuri,” Ryou said, and he led her off into the jungle. They stayed close together until Ryou found a boar for them to try to corral. 

“Stay here. I’ll get it going first. If it tries to veer off your way make yourself look big and scare it back. Lord knows you can scream.” 

“Ok, but what if it isn’t scared of me?” 

“If it’s scared of me, it will be scared of you. These boars have had no human contact and no predators that we can determine for decades.” Ryou reached out and tugged his cap down on her head. “You’ll be fine, and I’ll be right here.”

“Ok.” She grinned and crouched down where her spot was, and watched him move soundlessly into the jungle to circle around their prey. Her heartbeat picked up a bit, and she had to admit that this was rather exciting. Who would ever guess that she would be on a wild boar hunt, and not just any wild boar, but a giant scary alien wild boar.

Sure enough in what seemed like no time, she heard Ryou yelling and the sound of a huge boar stampeding through the brush. She certainly didn’t want to be the one that messed up and caused it to get away, so she watched carefully for it. There it was, it burst out of the jungle heading right for her

Matsuri got up and waved her arms, yelling at it. “Hey you! Go! Shoo!” The boar paused, its beady black eyes glittering at her. Ryou had managed to get it moving, why was it just staring at her?

“Go! Boo!!!! That way!!!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. It pawed the ground, still staring at her. Where was Ryou anyhow? It didn’t seem to be too scared of her. Then it charged, and Matsuri screamed. It was flying right at her. She bolted and ran, the boar right on her heels. She could hear it crashing through the bush right behind her, she could practically feel the heat from its breath on her neck. Shrieking she ran faster.

Where the hell was Ryou? She was being chased down by the boar, her feet flying over roots, jumping over dips in the ground, scrambling through the brush. If she tripped she'd be trampled and likely dead. Fear made her run faster at that thought. The only thing to do was to head for Ango, if she could remember where to go. She turned in what she thought was the right direction, the boar staying right with her.

Breathing heavily, she felt a sharp pain in her side, but she ignored it and kept running, not daring to stop. Faster, faster, faster, she told herself. Finally, she saw it, the bramble and brush that led to the corral. She wasn’t sure if she could keep running, the stitch in her side growing more and more painful with every step, but a quick glance behind her at the demon from hell that was chasing her pushed her on. 

She burst into the small clearing of the dead end, and her mistake came to her too late. It was a freaking dead end… there was no place left to run. She was sure her heart was going to burst as she skittered to a stop.

“Matsuri!” Ango yelled and tackled her from the side, rolling them hard as the gigantic boar came charging into the dead-end after her. She was sure she was bruised all over, but at least she had stopped running.

BAM BAM BAM, the sound of a gun. Both she and Ango looked up and saw Ryou standing there, his gun out beside the boar, his eyes had that dead look in them. The boar paused, and stumbled, weaving its way around the pen. Ango hopped up, and rolled under the boar, delivering a quick deathblow to its underside, rolling out the other side as it collapsed.

Matsuri just lay there, still panting heavily. The stitch in her side eased slightly, so she rolled to face the now dead boar. Ryou’s feet came into sight and he crouched beside her, running his hands over her body, checking for injury, feeling her pulse which was still beating right out of her body.

“I…I’m fine.” She managed to get out, her breathing slowly steadying.

“Jeezus.” He sat back and ran a hand over his eyes. 

“Are you ok, Mat-chan?” Ango was standing over them looking down. “That really wasn’t the plan.”

“No shit Sherlock.” Matsuri sat up pulling her knees to her chest and grimacing as her muscles protested. She was annoyed that Ryou wasn’t even breathing heavily after running after them. It was so unfair. “The plan was crap.”

“It just ran her down, she didn’t scare it at all. I’ve been chasing them through this damn jungle.” Ryou said. “I thought it was going to run you over a few times Matsuri, at least you ran here.” He smoothed his hand over her head adjusting her cap, feeling the need to touch her. 

“Noted. Flushing doesn’t work, Matsuri as bait does.” Ango said. “We’ll remember that for the next one.”

Matsuri looked up at him in shock. “B…bait?”

“Yep, you just have to run faster next time.” He grinned at her, relieved that everyone was alright. 

“Ango-kun, it’s a really bad time for a joke.” She glared at him. “That thing almost killed me.”

Ryou stood up and held out his hand to her to pull her up. “Yah, no. She’s not going to be bait next time.”

“Why did you have your gun, Ryou-kun?” Matsuri asked as she brushed the dust off herself.

“Because we were hunting monsters, and it’s natural to prepare for the worst-case scenario.” He reached over and pulled her into a hug, encasing her in his arms for a moment. She leaned gladly into it, feeling safe there. She could tell he was a little shaken by the boar hunting _her_ , too. “I wasn’t sure we could take it down cleanly with just knives, so I brought it just in case.”

“Time to work,” Ango called to them, breaking them apart and bringing them back to the world. With that, they set about butchering the boar to carry it down to the boat and begin preserving the meat. It was messy work and she felt bad for the animal, but a single boar would provide a lot of food for them if preserved correctly. This was all about survival. 

Matsuri had to admit she really enjoyed the pork chops they ate for dinner that night, probably way more than she should have.


End file.
